MGMT-based method for obtaining high yields of recombinant protein expression

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a novel enhancer of protein production in host cells. It discloses a vector for expressing recombinant proteins in these cells, comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a) a secretion peptidic signal, b) a 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase enzyme (MGMT, EC 2.1.1.63), a mutant or a catalytic domain thereof, and c) a recombinant protein. Said MGMT enzyme is preferably the so-called SNAP protein.

This application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 13/824,476 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,109,219), which is the U.S. Natl. Stage of International Application PCT/EP2011/072387, filed Dec. 9, 2011, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Appln. 61/505,694, filed Jul. 8, 2011, and European Appln. EP 10306389.7, filed Dec. 9, 2010, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The present invention relates to the field of genetic engineering and molecular biology. In particular, the present invention relates to a novel enhancer of protein production in host cells. Furthermore, the present invention relates to vectors containing the DNA sequence encoding said enhancer protein and also their use for expressing recombinant proteins, such as industrial enzymes or proteins for pharmaceutical use including eukaryotic (e.g. mammalian, such as human) and viral proteins.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Protein production systems, in which polypeptides or proteins of interest are produced in recombinant organisms or cells, are the backbone of commercial biotechnology.

The earliest systems, based on bacterial expression in hosts such as E. coli, have been joined by systems based on eukaryotic hosts, in particular mammalian cells in culture, insect cells both in culture and in the form of whole insects, and transgenic mammals such as sheep and goats.

Prokaryotic cell culture systems are easy to maintain and cheap to operate. However, prokaryotic cells are not capable of post-translational modification of eukaryotic proteins. Moreover, many proteins are incorrectly folded, requiring specific procedures to refold them, which adds to the cost of production.

Eukaryotic cell culture systems have been described for a number of applications. For example, mammalian cells are capable of post-translational modification, and generally produce proteins which are correctly folded and soluble. The chief disadvantages of mammalian cell systems include the requirement for specialised and expensive culture facilities, the risk of infection, which can lead to loss of the whole culture, and the risk of contaminating the end product with potentially hazardous mammalian proteins. Insect cells are alternatively used for polypeptide expression. The most widespread expression system used in insect cells is based on baculovirus vectors. A baculovirus expression vector is constructed by replacing the polyhedrin gene of baculovirus, which encodes a major structural protein of the baculovirus, with a heterologous gene, under the control of the strong native polyhedrin promoter. Cultured insect host cells are infected with the recombinant virus, and the protein produced thereby can be recovered from the cells themselves or from the culture medium if suitable secretion signals are employed.

Both systems, however, suffer from problems associated with reproducibility of recombinant protein expression level and quality, infection of the culture, and may require specialised culture facilities. Furthermore, baculovirus stocks, which for the production of certain proteins may have to be made under GMP conditions, are not always stable over time.

Drosophila cells, in particular Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells, for protein expression have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,550,043, U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,713 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,705,359. In contrast to the Baculovirus system of the prior art, in which the protein of interest is provided only upon lysis of the infected insect cells, the method based on S2 cells provides a continuous cell expression system for heterologous proteins and therefore leads to higher expression levels.

Several other means have been suggested for enhancing the expression of heterologous protein in host cells: for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,682 describes a method of overproducing functional nitric acid synthase in a prokaryote using a pCW vector under the control of tac promoter and co-expressing the protein with chaperons. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,512 relates to the production of host cells having specific mutations within their DNA sequences which cause the organism to exhibit a reduced capacity for degrading foreign products. These mutated host organisms can be used to increase yields of genetically engineered foreign proteins.

Vertebrate cells, in particular mammal cells, have also been widely used in the expression of recombinant proteins. The quantity of protein production over time from the cells growing in culture depends on a number of factors, such as, for example, cell density, cell cycle phase, cellular biosynthesis rates of the proteins, condition of the medium used to support cell viability and growth, and the longevity of the cells in culture (i.e., how long before they succumb to programmed cell death, or apoptosis). Various methods of improving the viability and lifespan of the cells in culture have been developed, together with methods of increasing productivity of a desired protein by, for example, controlling nutrients, cell density, oxygen and carbon dioxide content, lactate dehydrogenase, pH, osmolarity, catabolites, etc.

Other host cells can be used for producing heterologous recombinant proteins, notably plant cells and yeast cells.

Many pharmaceutical proteins of mammalian origin have been synthesized in plants. These range from blood products, such as human serum albumin for which there is an annual demand of more than 500 tonnes, to cytokines and other signalling molecules that are required in much smaller amounts. Most plant-derived proteins have been produced in transgenic tobacco and extracted directly from leaves. Generally, these proteins are produced at low levels, typically less than 0.1% of the total soluble protein. This low level of production probably reflects a combination of factors, with poor protein folding and stability among the most important. More recently, the tobacco chloroplast system has been used to express human proteins at much higher levels (MA JKC et al, 2004).

Yeast systems have been a staple for producing large amounts of proteins for industrial and biopharmaceutical use for many years. Yeast can be grown to very high cell mass densities in well-defined medium. Recombinant proteins in yeast can be over-expressed so the product is secreted from the cell and available for recovery in the fermentation solution. Proteins secreted by yeasts are heavily glycosylated at consensus glycosylation sites. Thus, expression of recombinant proteins in yeast systems historically has been confined to proteins where post-translations glycosylation patterns do not affect the function of proteins. Several yeast expression systems are used for recombinant protein expression, including Sacharomyces, Scizosacchromyces pombe, Pichia pastoris and Hansanuela polymorpha. Recently, a novel system with the capability of producing recombinant glycoproteins in yeast has emerged with glycosylation sequences similar to secreted human glycoproteins produced in mammalian cells. The glycosylation pathway of Pichia pastoris was modified by eliminating endogenous enzymes, which add high mannose chains to N-glycosylation intermediates. In addition, at least five active enzymes, involved in synthesizing humanized oligosaccharide chains, were specifically transferred into P. pastoris. The ability to produce large quantities of humanized glycoproteins in yeast offer advantages in that glycosylated structures could be highly uniform and easily purified. In addition, cross-contamination with mammalian viruses and other mammalian host glycoproteins may be eliminated by using fed-batch production in yeast with much shorter fermentation times than mammalian cells.

However, by using these systems, heterologous proteins are produced at approximately 1-2 mg/L in the supernatant of the cultured cells, what is quite low as compared to the goals of industrial production.

There is thus an urgent need of providing a system enabling to reach significantly higher level of heterologous protein expression.

The present invention answers this need and provides protein expression methods reaching a production level until 100 times higher than the existing means of protein production (that is, until 200 mg/L of proteins in the supernatant).

The present inventors have indeed demonstrated that the use of a nucleotide vector encoding a protein derived from the human 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (hMGMT) protein, said hMGMT derived protein being linked, directly or not, with a protein of interest enhances the production of said protein of interest to a yield of 40 mg/L to 200 mg/L in average.

FIGURE LEGENDS

FIG. 1A-B discloses (A) a schematic view of a mRNA encoding a MGMT fusion protein sequence of the invention, containing, from 5′ to 3′, a signal peptide, the MGMT mRNA sequence, a spacer, a protease cleavage site, a recombinant protein gene (foreign gene), a spacer, and a label a (His6)-tag and (B) the DNA and amino acid sequences of the same part of the vector, comprising i) the insect ssBiP signal peptide (in italic), ii) the SNAP-encoding enhancer sequence (in grey), iii) a DNA spacer sequence, iv) the enterokinase site-encoding sequence (in bold), v) the cloning sites EcoRV/XmaI (underlined) and vi) the DNA encoding the Histag label (bold italic) (see also SEQ ID NO:5).

FIG. 2A-D discloses (A) the amino acid sequence of the fusion protein SNAP (in grey) and the N nucleoprotein of the Rift Valley Fiever virus (RVF.N, bold) linked to a Histag label, both proteins being separated by a spacer GGGS, (B) immunoblots assay on cell supernatant of S2 cells transfected by the DNA vector of SEQ ID NO:19 (SNAP-RVF) stimulated or not with cadmium for 10 days, using anti-His_(tag) antibodies, and (C) an immunoblot assay performed with anti-His antibodies, on insoluble (INS) or soluble (SOL) protein fractions of E. Coli B21 lysates, said bacteria bearing a pET302/RVF.N+proTEV+GST plasmid. (D) an immunoblot assay showing the amount of SNAP-RVF.N in the successive fraction samples obtaining after a two-step purification of secreted chimeric protein SNAP-RVF.N from 10-days stimulated S2 cells, using Talon and Superdex 75 columns.

FIG. 3A-B discloses (A) the DNA and the amino acid sequences of the fusion protein SNAP (italic) and the soluble form of the envelop protein E from the West Nile virus (in grey), linked to a Histag label (bold), the proteins being separated by a spacer GGGS (SEQ ID NO:20) and (B) immunoblot assay with anti-His-tag antibodies, showing the secretion of the soluble form of the envelop protein E protein of the West-Nile virus in the supernatant of S2 cells transfected with the DNA vector of the invention encoding SNAP-WNsE (SEQ ID NO:20), and stimulated or nor with cadmium for 10 days.

FIG. 4A-F discloses (A) a scheme of the DNA cassette containing a BiP peptide signal, a MGMT-like encoding sequence (SNAP-like), two pro-TEV clivage sites at each side of the IFNα sequence (huIFNAI), and a Histag label, (B) the DNA (SEQ ID NO:5) and amino acid (SEQ ID NO:34) sequences of the fusion protein SNAP (in grey, preceded with an insect peptide signal in italic) and IFNα (in bold), followed by a Histag label (in bold italic), the SNAP and IFNα proteins being separated with the enterokinase cleavage site (underlined) and a spacer sequence GGGS. (C) Immunoblots assay using anti-Histag antibodies, to detect the expression of IFNα in the supernatant of S2 cells being transfected either by the vector of the invention encoding IFNα (S2/SNAP-IFN) or a control vector, stimulated or not with Cd²⁺. (D) Immunoblots assay using anti-SNAP antibodies on 10 μL of supernatant of S2/DeSNAPuniv-IFNα cells induced for 10 days with Cadmium or not (E) Luciferase activity in HeLa cells infected with Chikungunya virus expressing a Renilla luciferase, said cells being treated with different doses of IFNα, either from commercial source (Intergen) or the IFNα produced by the method of the invention. (F) Luciferase activity in HeLa cells infected with Chikungunya virus expressing a Renilla luciferase, said cells being treated with different doses of the SNAP-IFNα protein obtained by the production process of the invention.

FIG. 5 represents the different steps of the recombinant protein production process of the invention.

FIG. 6A-C discloses (A) the DNA and amino acid sequences of the fusion protein SNAP (in grey, preceded with an insect peptide signal) and Granzyme M, followed by a Histag label, the SNAP and Granzyme M proteins being separated with the enterokinase cleavage site and a spacer sequence GGGS. (B) schematic view of the chimeric fusion protein SNAP-GrM, highlighting the three potential cleavage sites of the GrM protease in SNAP (C) Immunoblots assay using anti-SNAP or anti-Histag antibodies, to detect the expression of SNAP-GrM in the supernatant of S2 cells being transfected by the vector of the invention encoding GrM (S2/SNAP-GrM, SEQ ID NO:55).

FIG. 7A-C discloses (A) a scheme of the universal DNA cassette containing a BiP-like peptide signal, a MGMT encoding sequence, two pro-TEV cleavage sites at each side of the IFNα sequence (huIFNAI), and a Histag label, (B) the DNA (SEQ ID NO:57) and amino acid (SEQ ID NO:58) sequences of the fusion protein SNAP (in grey, preceded with an insect BiP-like peptide signal) and human IFNα1 (amino acids in bold), followed by a Histag label, the SNAP and IFNα proteins being separated with the proTEV cleavage site and a spacer sequence GGGS. (C) Immunoblot assay using anti-SNAP antibodies, to detect the expression of SNAP-IFNα in the supernatant of HeLa cells being transfected by either a vector encoding SNAP alone without peptide signal (pSNAPf vector), or a vector encoding SNAP alone, preceded with the peptide signal of the Dengue virus (pDV1ssprM-SNAP), or the vector of the invention encoding IFNα, comprising the DNA sequence as defined in (A) (pDeSNAP-4/SNAP-IFNA1, SEQ ID NO:57).

FIG. 8A-B discloses (A) the universal DNA cassette containing a BiP-like peptide signal, a SNAP encoding sequence, two pro-TEV clivage sites, a Histag label, four unique cloning sites BamH1, Eco RV, Xma I, and Apa I for cloning a gene of interest, and a spacer sequence GGGS (DeSNAP univ, SEQ ID NO:59 and 60). The unique sites at the 5′ end Nhe I and 3′ end Not I/Hind III are required for the sub-cloning step in mammalian expression vectors (e.g. plasmids pcDNA3 or pCI-neo), and the unique sites Bgl II at the 5′ end and Age I at the 3′ end are required for the subcloning step in non-vertebrate DES system. The scheme in (B) discloses the universal DNA cassette containing a BiP-like peptide signal, a MGMT encoding sequence, two pro-TEV clivage sites, a Histag label, four unique cloning sites BamH1, Eco RV, Xma I, and Apa I for cloning a gene of interest, and a spacer sequence GGGS (DeMGMT univ, SEQ ID NO:69 and 70).

FIG. 9 discloses a means to insert a foreign gene of interest into DeMGMT Univ. (SEQ ID NO:69 and SEQ ID NO:70).

FIG. 10A-B discloses the thermostability of SNAP fusion proteins CHIK.sE2-SNAP, SNAP-WN.EDIII and SNAP-IFNαI) incubated 4 days at −80° C., 4° C., 25° C. or 37° C. (A) or two months at −80° C., 4° C., 25° C. or 37° C. (B).

FIG. 11A-B discloses the production of the fusion proteins SNAP-SSX2 and SNAP-sFasL by the vectors of the invention introduced in S2 cells, after 10 days of cadmium induction (+) or without (−) in whole supernatant (A) or in the different fractions (B).

FIG. 12A-C discloses (A) a scheme of the universal DNA cassette containing a BiP-like peptide signal, a MGMT encoding sequence (SNAP-like), two pro-TEV cleavage sites, at each side of the SSX2 cancer antigen, and a Histag label (SEQ ID NO:69 and SEQ ID NO:70), (B) a scheme of the universal DNA cassette containing a BiP-like peptide signal, a MGMT encoding sequence, two pro-TEV cleavage sites at each side of the NERMCSL protein, and a Histag label (SEQ ID NO:96) and (SEQ ID NO:97, (C) an immunoblot assay on transient transfected HeLa cells for two days using mouse anti-SNAP antibodies, showing the extracellular or intracellular production of IFNα, SSX2 and NERMCSL.

FIG. 13A-C discloses (A) a scheme of the universal DNA cassette containing a BiP-like peptide signal, a MGMT encoding sequence (SNAP-like), two pro-TEV cleavage sites, at each side of the hSULF-2^(ΔTMD) polypeptide, and a Histag label, (B) the DNA (SEQ ID NO:96) and amino acid (SEQ ID NO:97) sequences of the fusion protein SNAP (in dark grey, preceded with an insect BiP-like peptide signal) and hSULF-2^(ΔTMD), followed by a Histag label, the SNAP and hSULF-2^(ΔTMD) proteins being separated with the proTEV cleavage site and a spacer sequence GGGS and (C) the enzymatic activity of secreted chimeric DeSNAP-hSULF-2^(ΔTMD) secreted by HEK 293 cells transiently transfected for two days with pcDNA3/DeSNAPuniv-hSULF-2^(ΔTMD).

FIG. 14A-B discloses (A) a scheme of the DNA cassette containing a BiP peptide signal, a MGMT encoding sequence (SNAP-like), two pro-TEV clivage sites at each side of the NERMCSL protein, and a Histag label, and (B) Immunoblot assay using anti-SNAP antibodies, to detect the expression of the NERMCSL protein in the supernatant of S2 cells being transfected either by the vector of the invention encoding the NERMCSL protein (S2/SNAP-NERMCSL) or by a vector encoding the soluble protein E2 of the Chikungunya virus (CHIK.sE2-SNAP), stimulated or not with Cd²⁺.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present inventors observed that co-expression of the 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase enzyme (MGMT) together with a recombinant protein of interest greatly improves the production of said recombinant protein in insect cells such as S2 cells, as well as in mammal cells, such as in HeLa cells.

The 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase enzyme (MGMT, also known as ATase or AGT, and hereafter referred to as “MGMT”) is numbered EC 2.1.1.63 in the IUBMB enzyme nomenclature. It is a 6-alkylguanine-DNA-alkyltransferase DNA repair enzyme of 207 amino acid residues whose function in the cells is to repair alkylated DNA. More precisely, MGMT acts on O⁶-methylated guanine in DNA by transferring the methyl group in an S2 reaction to a reactive cysteine residue (Cys 145). The repair mechanism is unusual, as the protein is irreversibly inactivated (Pegg A. E. et al, Mutat. Res. 2000; 462, 82-100). This enzyme is currently used in molecular biology for labelling proteins in vivo with reporter molecules, through an irreversible labelling reaction with O⁶-benzylguanine derivatives (Juillerat A. et al, Chemistry & Biology, vol. 10, 313-317, 2003 and WO 2005/085470).

Different enzymes derived from MGMT have been described so far (Lim A. et al, EMBO J. 15: 4050-4060, 1996; Daniels D. S. et al, EMBO J. 19: 1719-1730, 2000; Juillerat A. et al, Chemistry & Biology, vol. 10, 313-317, 2003, WO 2005/085470, WO 2004/031405). In particular, a mutant protein of 20 kDa containing the mutations Cys62Ala, Lys125Ala, Ala127Thr, Arg128Ala, Gly131Lys, Gly132Thr, Met134Leu, Arg135Ser, Cys150Ser, Asn157Gly, Ser159Glu truncated at amino acid 182 has been obtained (the so-called “AGT26” mutant in WO 2005/085470, also called “SNAP 26” in WO 2006/114409). The particular mutant “SNAP26” has been shown to have enhanced labelling activity. However, it has never been shown nor suggested that it might enhance the expression of recombinant proteins to which it is coupled.

The present Inventors propose here for the first time the use the MGMT enzyme (EC 2.1.1.63), a mutant, a catalytic domain thereof or sub-fragments thereof, for enhancing the protein production in host cells, in particular in non-vertebrate and vertebrate host cells. The enhancing effect is observed when the host cells express a fusion polypeptide comprising at least i) a peptide secretion signal which is functional in said host cells, ii) the MGMT enzyme, mutant, catalytic domain or sub-fragments thereof, and iii) the protein of interest. For the enhancing effect to occur, the MGMT enzyme has to be physically linked, directly or indirectly (spacers and other amino acids might be introduced), to the protein of interest. Without being bound to the theory, it is contemplated that the MGMT enzyme can serve as chaperone protein, for example by favouring the secretion from the host cell and stabilising the synthesised fusion polypeptide in the supernatant of the host cells, or for preventing it to be metabolised during and after its synthesis and secretion from the host cells.

In addition, it has been observed that MGMT has a 3D globular structure comprising a helix (Wibley J. E. A. et al, 2000), which is compatible with a scaffolding role of MGMT.

In the context of the present invention, “host” cells are any cells which can be used for producing recombinant proteins, such as “non-vertebrate” (or invertebrate) cells, vertebrate cells, plant cells, yeast cells, or prokaryote cells. They are preferably non-vertebrate and vertebrate cells.

Non-vertebrate (also known as invertebrate) comprises different phyla, the most famous being the Insect, Arachnida, Crustacea, Mollusca, Annelida, Cirripedia, Radiata, Coelenterata and Infusoria. They are now classified into over 30 phyla, from simple organisms such as sea sponges and flatworms to complex animals such as arthropods and molluscs. In the context of the invention, non-vertebrate cells are preferably insect cells, such as Drosophila or Mosquito cells, more preferably Drosophila S2 cells.

Examples of cells derived from vertebrate organisms that are useful as host cell lines include non-human embryonic stem cells or derivative thereof, for example avian EBX cells; monkey kidney CVI line transformed by SV40 sequences (COS-7, ATCC CRL 1651); a human embryonic kidney line (293); baby hamster kidney cells (BHK, ATCC CCL 10); Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO); mouse sertoli cells [TM4]; monkey kidney cells (CVI, ATCC CCL 70); African green monkey kidney cells (VERO-76, ATCC CRL-1587); human cervical carcinoma cells (HeLa, ATCC CCL 2); canine kidney cells (MDCK, ATCC CCL 34); buffalo rat liver cells (BRL 3A, ATCC CRL 1442); human lung cells (W138, ATCC CCL 75); human liver cells (Hep G2, HB 8065); mouse mammary tumor cells (MMT 060562, ATCC CCL51); rat hepatoma cells [HTC, M1.5]; YB2/0 (ATCC n° CRL1662); NIH3T3; HEK and TRI cells. In the context of the invention, vertebrate cells are preferably EBX, CHO, YB2/O, COS, HEK, NIH3T3 cells or derivatives thereof.

Plant cells which can be used in the context of the invention are the tobacco cultivars Bright Yellow 2 (BY2) and Nicotiana Tabaccum 1 (NT-1).

Yeast cells which can be used in the context of the invention are: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and Hansenula polymorpha, as well as methylotropic yeasts like Pichia pastoris and Pichia methanolica.

Prokaryote cells which can be used in the context of the invention are typically E. Coli bacteria or Bacillus Subtilis bacteria.

The present invention thus discloses a nucleotide expression vector encoding at least a) a peptidic secretion signal, which is preferably functional in non-vertebrate cells or vertebrate cells, and b) a 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase enzyme, a mutant, a sub-fragment or a catalytic domain thereof.

The term “vector” herein means the vehicle by which a DNA or RNA sequence of a foreign gene can be introduced into a host cell so as to transform it and promote expression of the introduced sequence. Vectors may include for example, plasmids, phages, and viruses and are discussed in greater detail below. Indeed, any type of plasmid, cosmid, YAC or viral vector may be used to prepare a recombinant nucleic acid construct which can be introduced to a host cell where expression of the protein of interest is desired. Alternatively, wherein expression of the protein of interest in a particular type of host cell is desired, viral vectors that selectively infect the desired cell type or tissue type can be used. Also important in the context of the invention are vectors for use in gene therapy (i.e. which are capable of delivering the nucleic acid molecule to a host organism).

For example, viral vectors, such as lentiviruses, retroviruses, herpes viruses, adenoviruses, adeno-associated viruses, vaccinia virus, baculovirus, and other recombinant viruses with desirable cellular tropism. Methods for constructing and using viral vectors are known in the art (see, Miller and Rosman, BioTechniques, 7:980-990, 1992).

Viral vectors that are actually preferred in the present invention are those that are well suited for use in vertebrate and non-vertebrate cells.

For non vertebrate cells, preferred vectors are the arboviruses, the West Nile virus being particularly preferred, which are arthropod vectors. Other vectors that are known to efficiently be expressed in non-vertebrate cells are the baculoviruses.

For vertebrate cells, lentiviral, AAV, baculoviral and adenoviral vectors are preferred. The vectors suited for expression in mammalian host cells can also be of non viral (e.g. plasmid DNA) origin. Suitable plasmid vectors include, without limitation, pREP4, pCEP4 (Invitrogene), pCI (Promega), pCDM8 and pMT2PC, pVAX and pgWiz.

For prokaryote cells, plasmid, bacteriophage and cosmid vectors are preferred. Suitable vectors for use in prokaryote systems include without limitation pBR322 (Gibco BRL), pUC (Gibco BRL), pBluescript (Stratagene), p Poly, pTrc; pET 11d; pIN; and pGEX vectors.

For plant cells, plasmid expression vectors such as Ti plasmids, and virus expression vectors such as Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) and tobacco mosaic virus TMV are preferred.

Expression of recombinant proteins in yeast cells can be done using three types of vectors: integration vectors (YIp), episomal plasmids (YEp), and centromeric plasmids (YCp): Suitable vectors for expression in yeast (e.g. S. cerevisiae) include, but are not limited to pYepSec1, pMFa, pJRY88, pYES2 (Invitrogen Corporation, San Diego, Calif.) and pTEF-MF (Dualsystems Biotech Product code: P03303).

Vectors which can be used for gene therapy are well-know in the art. They are for example lentivirus, retrovirus, adenovirus, poxvirus, herpes virus, measle virus, foamy virus or adeno-associated virus (AAV). Viral vectors can be replication-competent, or can be genetically disabled so as to be replication-defective or replication-impaired. Preferred gene therapy vector are the DNA Flap vectors as described in WO 1999/055892, U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,507 and WO 2001/27300.

A sequence “encoding” an expression product, such as a RNA, polypeptide, protein or enzyme, is a nucleotide sequence that, when expressed, results in the production of that

RNA, polypeptide, protein or enzyme; i.e., the nucleotide sequence “encodes” that RNA or it encodes the amino acid sequence for that polypeptide, protein or enzyme.

In the context of the invention, the “catalytic domain” of an enzyme means the active site of the enzyme, or, in other words, the part of an enzyme molecule at which catalysis of the substrate occurs (here the transfer of the methyl group in an S_(N)2 reaction to a reactive cysteine residue). The term “a catalytic domain thereof” therefore designates any fragment or homologous sequence of the MGMT polypeptide, preferably having at least 80% of the catalytic activity of the native MGMT enzyme. These fragments (also called “sub-fragments”) can comprise between 20 and 180, preferably between 30 and 100 amino acids.

The homologous sequence of said catalytic domain can have one or more mutations resulting in the partial or total lost of said catalytic activity.

In the context of the invention, the MGMT enzyme can be the human MGMT (referenced as NP_002403.2) of sequence SEQ ID NO:4, the mouse MGMT identified as NP_032624.1 (SEQ ID NO: 45), the rat MGMT identified as NP_036993.1 (SEQ ID NO:46) or an homologous sequence thereof.

The term “homologous” refers to sequences that have sequence similarity. The term “sequence similarity”, in all its grammatical forms, refers to the degree of identity or correspondence between nucleic acid or amino acid sequences. In the context of the invention, two amino acid sequences are “homologous” when at least about 80%, alternatively at least about 81%, alternatively at least about 82%, alternatively at least about 83%, alternatively at least about 84%, alternatively at least about 85%, alternatively at least about 86%, alternatively at least about 87%, alternatively at least about 88%, alternatively at least about 89%, alternatively at least about 90%, alternatively at least about 91%, alternatively at least about 92%, alternatively at least about 93%, alternatively at least about 94%, alternatively at least about 95%, alternatively at least about 96%, alternatively at least about 97%, alternatively at least about 98%, alternatively at least about 99% of the amino acids are similar. Preferably the similar or homologous polypeptide sequences are identified by using the algorithm of Needleman and Wunsch.

Preferably, the homologous sequence to the 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase enzyme shares at least 64% amino acid sequence identity, preferably at least about 65% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 66% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 67% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 68% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 69% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 70% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 71% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 72% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 73% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 74% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 75% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 76% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 77% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 78% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 79% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least 80% amino acid identity, alternatively at least about 81% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 82% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 83% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 84% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 85% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 86% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 87% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 88% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 89% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 90% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 91% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 92% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 93% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 94% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 95% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 96% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 97% amino acid sequence identity, alternatively at least about 98% amino acid sequence identity and alternatively at least about 99% amino acid sequence identity with SEQ ID NO:4. In a preferred embodiment, the homologous sequence of SEQ ID NO:4 is at least 64%, preferably 70%, and more preferably 80% identical to SEQ ID NO:4.

A more preferred homologous MGMT sequence contains the mutations described in WO 2005/085470, whose positions can be easily transposed in view of SEQ ID NO:4, the starting Methionine residue of SNAP26 corresponding to the Methionine residue in position 32 of SEQ ID NO:4 (31 amino acids should therefore be added to the positions disclosed in WO 2005/085470 so as to obtain the corresponding ones in SEQ ID NO:4).

Preferably, the MGMT homologous sequence useful in the invention corresponds to the wild-type MGMT sequence of SEQ ID NO:4, in which between 1 and 30, preferably between 6 and 25, and in particular 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, or 23 amino acids are substituted by other amino acids, and/or 1 to 40, preferably 1 to 20, in particular 10 to 20 amino acids, more preferably 15 amino acids at the C-terminus are deleted.

In a preferred embodiment, the MGMT homologous sequence contains the following mutations as compared with SEQ ID NO:4:

(A) Lys31 replaced by Arg, or Met32 replaced by Ser, or Cys93 replaced by Ala, or Lys156 replaced by Ala, or Ala158 replaced by Thr, or Arg159 replaced by Ala, or Gly162 replaced by Lys, or Gly163 replaced by Thr, or Met165 replaced by Leu, or Arg166 replaced by Ser, or Cys181 replaced by Ser, or Asn188 replaced by Gly, or Ser190 replaced by Glu, or Gly214 replaced by Pro, or Ser215 replaced by Ala, or Ser216 replaced by Gly, or Gly217 replaced by Ile, or Leu218 replaced by Gly, or Gly220 replaced by Pro, or Ala221 replaced by Gly, or Trp222 replaced by Ser, or

(B) Lys31-Met32 replaced by Arg-Ser, or Ala158-Arg159 replaced by Thr-Ala, or Gly162-Gly163 replaced by Lys-Thr, or Met165-Arg166 replaced by Leu-Ser, or Gly162-Gly163/Met165-Arg166 replaced by Lys-Thr/Leu-Ser, or Asn188/Ser190 replaced by Gly/Glu, or Gly214-Ser215-Ser216-Gly217-Leu218 replaced by Pro-Ala-Gly-Ile-Gly, or Gly220-Ala221-Trp222 replaced by Pro-Gly-Ser, preferably in combination with any other amino acid replacements cited in (A), or

(C) Truncation after Leu223 (amino acids 224-238 are deleted), preferably in combination with any other amino acid replacement cited in (A) or (B).

Preferred MGMT homologous sequences are those being truncated after Leu223.

Preferred MGMT homologous sequences are those wherein two out of the modifications (B) are present, and optionally truncation after Leu223.

Preferred MGMT homologous sequences are those wherein three out of the modifications (B) are present, and optionally truncation after Leu223.

Preferred MGMT homologous sequences are those wherein four out of the modifications (B) are present, and optionally truncation after Leu223.

Preferred MGMT homologous sequences are those wherein five out of the modifications (B) are present, and optionally truncation after Leu223.

Preferred MGMT homologous sequences are those wherein six out of the modifications (B) are present, and optionally truncation after Leu223.

Other preferred MGMT homologous sequences are those containing a combination of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, or 20 mutations chosen among the modifications disclosed in (A), and optionally truncated after Leu223.

Particularly preferred are homologous sequences containing the mutations Lys31Arg, Met32Ser, Cys93Ala, Lys156Ala, Ala158Thr, Arg159Ala, Gly162Lys, Gly163Thr, Met165Leu, Arg166Ser, Cys181Ser, Asn188Gly, Ser190Glu, Gly214Pro, Ser215Ala, Ser216Gly, Gly217Ile, Leu218Gly, Gly220Pro, Ala221Gly, Trp222Ser and truncation after Leu223 (that is, the SNAP sequence of SEQ ID NO:2).

In an even more preferred embodiment, the MGMT enzyme is the SNAP mutant protein of SEQ ID NO:2 or a homologous thereof. The SNAP mutant of SEQ ID NO:2 shares 77% homology with the amino acid sequence of the human 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (NP_002403.2, SEQ ID NO:4), and 70% homology with the amino acid sequence of the mouse 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (NP_032624.1, SEQ ID NO:45).

Preferably, said homologous sequence to the SNAP protein is at least identical at more than 80%, preferably 81%, more preferably 82%, more preferably 83%, more preferably 84%, more preferably 85%, preferably 86%, more preferably 87%, more preferably 88%, more preferably 89%, more preferably 90%, more preferably 91%, more preferably 92%, more preferably 93%, more preferably 94%, more preferably 95%, more preferably 96% to the and even more preferably 97% to the SNAP protein of sequence SEQ ID NO:2.

Preferably, the nucleotide expression vector of the invention further comprises cloning sites enabling the in frame insertion of an heterologous DNA sequence encoding a protein of interest.

As meant in the present invention, the term “peptidic secretion signal” designates a short (3-60 amino acids long) peptide chain that directs the transport of a protein.

Examples of secretion signals appropriate for the present invention include, but are not limited to, the signal peptide sequences of the mating factor (MF) alpha (U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,926); invertase (WO84/01153); PHO5 (DK 3614/83); YAP3 (yeast aspartic protease 3; WO95/02059); and BAR1 (WO87/02670).

In the context of the invention, this peptidic secretion signal is preferably functional either in non-vertebrate cells or in vertebrate cells, or both.

Examples of peptidic secretion signals which are functional in insect cells are: the insect ssBiP (SEQ ID NO: 48, for example having the DNA sequence SEQ ID NO:11), the BiP-like peptide signal of SEQ ID NO: 51 (for example having the DNA sequence SEQ ID NO:50) and any peptide signal present in an arbovirus, for example the envelop E protein of the West-Nile virus (SEQ ID NO: 15).

Interestingly, the above-mentioned BiP-like peptide signal is functional in both non-vertebrate and vertebrate cells. This BiP-like signal corresponds to the BiP peptide signal of SEQ ID NO:48 in which the last Glycine amino acid has been replaced by the amino acid sequence Pro Thr Ala Leu Ala (SEQ ID NO:61) which corresponds to the cleavage site of the E protein of the Dengue virus. Accordingly, the BiP-like signal will be advantageously cleaved once the protein will be translated and secreted in the supernatant of the host cells.

A variety of secretion signals are also available for expression in yeast host cells, e.g. in S. cerevisiae. These include the Prepro alpha factor, HSp150, PHO1, SUC2, KILM1 (killer toxin type 1), and GGP1.

A cloning site is a sequence which facilitates cloning of a gene encoding a protein of interest into the expression system. It contains restriction sites, or restriction recognition sites, i.e. locations on a DNA molecule containing specific sequences of nucleotides, which are recognized by restriction enzymes (see for example in the figures). These are generally palindromic sequences (because restriction enzymes usually bind as homodimers), and a particular restriction enzyme may cut the sequence between two nucleotides within its recognition site, or somewhere nearby. The cloning sites are well known for the man skilled in the art.

More preferably, the nucleotide expression vector further comprises a heterologous DNA sequence encoding an heterologous protein of interest or an heterologous polypeptide inserted at said cloning sites.

The term “heterologous” refers to a combination of elements not naturally occurring.

For example, the present invention includes “heterologous DNA sequences” encoding “protein/polypeptides of interest”, these DNA sequences being not naturally located in, or within a chromosomal site of, the host cell which is used for protein expression.

When a heterologous DNA sequence encoding an heterologous protein or polypeptide of interest is inserted in the nucleotide vector of the invention, it is preferably requested that it encodes a fusion polypeptide comprising said peptidic signal, said MGMT enzyme, mutant or homologous thereof, and said heterologous protein/polypeptide of interest.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the DNA sequence encoding said MGMT enzyme is located in 5′ or in 3′ of the DNA sequence encoding said heterologous protein of interest, preferably in 5′. Therefore, the MGMT enzyme is directly or indirectly linked to the heterologous protein/polypeptide of interest, and preferably located at the N-terminal end of the heterologous protein/polypeptide of interest.

It is particularly preferred that the DNA sequence encoding said MGMT enzyme thereof is located in 5′ of the DNA sequence encoding said heterologous protein/polypeptide of interest, when the activity domain of the heterologous protein/polypeptide of interest is located at its C-terminal part, such as IFNα. In a same manner, it could be particularly preferred that the DNA sequence encoding said MGMT enzyme is located in 3′ of the DNA sequence encoding said heterologous protein/polypeptide of interest, when the activity domain of the heterologous protein/polypeptide of interest is located at its N-terminal part.

More precisely, in a first aspect, the present invention is drawn to a vector for expressing recombinant proteins in host cells, preferably in non-vertebrate and/or vertebrate host cells, more preferably in insect cells, comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding in a single open reading frame, from 5′ to 3′:

a) a peptidic secretion signal which is functional in said host cell,

b) the 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase enzyme (MGMT, EC 2.1.1.63), a mutant or a catalytic domain thereof, and

c) a recombinant protein.

In the context of the invention, the term “recombinant protein” or “protein of interest” designate gene products or polypeptides that are foreign to the protein producing cell, and which are preferably selected from the group consisting of diagnostic and therapeutic protein(s) or polypeptide(s).

More preferably, said diagnostic and therapeutic protein(s) or polypeptide(s) is (are) selected from the group consisting of:

bacterial or viral immunogenic proteins, more preferably (infectious, pathogenic) viral proteins, for example the EMI protein from the Dengue, Japanese Encephalitis, Tick-Born Encephalitis, Yellow Fever, Usutu, Rocio, Murray Encephalitis, Wesselbron, Zika or West Nile viruses, or the nucleoprotein N from Rift Valley Fever or Toscana viruses, or the soluble form of the E2 envelope protein from the Chikungunya virus, or the soluble form of the E envelope protein of the West-Nile virus, and

blood factors, anticoagulants, growth factors, hormones, vaccines, therapeutic enzymes, monoclonal antibodies and cytokines (such as IFNα, Granzyme M and FasL),

antigens, e.g. cancer antigens such as the cancer testis antigen SSX2, or the N-terminal region of the ERC/Mesotheline (NERCMSL),

anti-tumoral proteins, e.g. FasL, or the heparan-sulfate 6-O-endosulfatases (hSULF),

microbial, viral and/or parasite polypeptides,

any other useful proteins (e.g. contactins).

The protein FasL is a pro-apoptotic protein which can be used as anti-tumor agent. It is encoded for example by SEQ ID NO:88.

The hSulf proteins (or hSULF) are heparan-sulfate 6-O-endosulfatases which regulate heparin sulfate structure and have a dramatic impact on the growth and progression of malignant cells in vivo (Dai et al, 2005). In the context of the invention, it is preferably the hSulf2 protein, and more preferably the hSulf-2^(ΔTMD), in which the transmembrane domain (TMD) has been deleted so as to enhance its solubility, this mutant having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO:95 and being encoded for example by SEQ ID NO:94.

The vector of the invention can also be used to express and purify peptides and/or polypeptides of interest. In the context of the present invention, the terms “peptides” and “polypeptides” are meant to be synonymous, designating short polymers of amino acid monomers (also called “residues”) linked by peptide bonds. These polymers preferably contain less than 100 residues, more preferably less than 50 residues.

In particular, the vector of the invention can be used to express and purify diagnostic microbial polypeptides, such as bacterial, viral or parasite polypeptides. Examples of such polypeptides are antigenic peptides, mucins, and/or toxins secreted or expressed by bacteria, viruses or parasites. Preferably, said antigenic peptide is expressed by the Influenza virus, the hepatitis A virus, the hepatitis B virus, the hepatitis C virus, the hepatitis G virus, the HIV virus, the Yellow fever virus, the Dengue virus, the Japanese Encephalitis virus, the Tick-Born Encephalitis virus, the Usutu or West Nile viruses, the Rift Valley Fever or Toscana viruses, the Chikungunya virus, the Respiratory Synticial virus, the Rocio virus, the Murray Encephalitis virus, the Wesselbron virus, the Zika virus, the Lymphocytic Choreomeningitis virus, a human parvovirus, a human papillomavirus, the human cytomegalovirus, or any identified virus. Preferably, said antigenic peptide is expressed by parasitic protozoa (such as Entamoeba histolytica or Giardia lamblia), worms (such as nematodes, cestodes, or trematodes), or arthropods (such as crustaceans, insects, arachnids).

Preferably, said antigenic peptide is expressed by infectious bacteria, for example of the genera Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and E. Coli. Infectious toxins are well known in the art. One can cite, as examples, the botulinum neurotoxins, the Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin, ricin, saxitoxin, shigatoxin, tetrodotoxin, staphylococcal enterotoxins, etc. Mucins are also well known in the art. MUC5AC, MUC5B and MUC2 are examples thereof. These examples are not limiting and any peptide/polypeptide can be expressed by the method of the invention.

Contactins are a subgroup of molecules belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily that are expressed exclusively in the nervous system (see the review of Shimoda and Watanabe, 2009). They have been involved in psychiatric disorders, in particular in autism. Preferred contactins to be produced by the system of the invention are contacting 2 and 4. Contactin 4 (CNTN4) is encoded for example by SEQ ID NO:91 (corresponding to amino acids 19-990 of the full protein NP_783200.1).

Numerous cancer antigens are known to be efficient vaccine targets for treating cancer. The production of high amount of such polypeptides (see the lists in Cheever et al, 2009) appears to be very important in order to obtain efficient cancer vaccine. Interestingly, the vectors of the invention enable to obtain high level of recombinant cancer antigen which can be used in immunotherapy, or to produce antibodies, or in cancer diagnostic methods.

SSX2 and NERCMSL are two examples of cancer antigens. The SSX2 cancer antigen is encoded by the DNA having SEQ ID NO:76 (Genebank: NM_175698). The N-terminal region of the ERC/Mesotheline (NERCMSL) is encoded by SEQ ID NO:83. This antigen is commonly used as a detection antigen in patients suffering of malign mesothelium.

Any protein can be produce by the methods of the invention.

Yet, preferred proteins are the therapeutic proteins such as insulin, IFN, FasL, Mesotheline, hSULF or contactins.

More generally, preferred proteins are those which have been difficult to produce in high amounts so far. Such proteins are for example FasL, Granzyme M, hSULF, Mesotheline and contactins.

The DNA sequence encoding the fusion polypeptide comprising said peptidic signal, said MGMT enzyme, mutant or catalytic domain, and said recombinant protein of interest, can be operatively associated with an inducible promoter which is functional in the same host cells as the peptidic signal is.

More preferably, in the vector of the invention, said open reading frame is operatively associated with an inducible promoter which is functional in the same host cell as the peptidic signal is.

A coding sequence is “operatively associated with” an expression control sequence (i.e. transcriptional and translational control sequences) in a cell, when RNA polymerase transcribes the coding sequence into RNA, which is then trans-RNA spliced (if it contains introns) and, if the sequence encodes a protein, is translated into that protein.

A “promoter” is a sequence of nucleotides from which transcription may be initiated of DNA operably linked downstream (i.e. in the 3′ direction on the sense strand of double-stranded DNA). Within the promoter sequence will be found a transcription initiation site (conveniently found, for example, by mapping with nuclease S1), as well as protein binding domains (consensus sequences) responsible for the binding of RNA polymerase.

Promoters which may be used to control gene expression in the context of the present invention are for example the one that are functional in non-vertebrate cells or in vertebrate cells. For example, for non-vertebrate cells, the regulatory sequences of the metallothionein gene can be used (Brinster et al., Nature, 296:39-42, 1982).

Preferably, the inducible promoter which is present in the vector of the invention has a promoter activity in an insect cell, and more preferably in a Drosophila cell. It is for example the Drosophila metallothionein promoter (Lastowski-Perry et al, J. Biol. Chem. 260:1527 (1985)), which directs high level transcription of the gene in the presence of metals, e.g. CuSO₄. Alternatively, the Drosophila actin 5C gene promoter, which is a constitutive promoter and does not require addition of a metal, can be used (B. J. Bond et al, Mol. Cell. Biol. 6:2080 (1986)) Examples of other known Drosophila promoters include, e.g. the inducible heatshock (Hsp70) and COPIA LTR promoters. The SV40 early promoter gives lower level of expression than the Drosophila metallothionein.

Preferably, the inducible promoter which is present in the vector of the invention has a promoter activity in a Drosophila melanogaster cell, preferably in Drosophila S2 cells. It is for example the methallothionein promoter which is thoroughly described in Lastowski-Perry et al, J. Biol. Chem. 260:1527 (1985).

Promoters suitable for constitutive expression in mammalian cells include the cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate early promoter, the adenovirus major late promoter, the phosphoglycero kinase (PGK) promoter, and the thymidine kinase (TK) promoter of herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1. Inducible eukaryotic promoters regulated by exogenously supplied compounds, include without limitation, the zinc-inducible metallothionein (MT) promoter, the dexamethasone (Dex)-inducible mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) promoter, the T7 polymerase promoter system (WO 98/10088), the ecdysone insect promoter, the tetracycline-repressible promoter, the tetracycline-inducible promoter, the RU486-inducible promoter and the rapamycin-inducible promoter.

Preferably, the promoter which is present in the vector of the invention has a promoter activity in a mammal cell, preferably in HeLa cells. It is for example the SV 40 promoter.

A range of yeast promoters is available for protein expression in yeast host cells. Some like ADH2, SUC2 are inducible and others like GAPDH are constitutive in expression. Other promoters suitable for expression in yeast include the TEF, PGK, MF alpha, CYC-1, GAL-1, GAL4, GAL10, PHO5, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAP or GAPDH), and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) promoters.

For use in plant cells, the most commonly used promoter is the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV)35S promoter or its enhanced version, but a number of alternative promoter can be used, such as the hybrid (ocs)3mas promoter or the ubiquitin promoter from Maize and A. Thaliana. In contrast to these constitutive promoters, the rice α-amylase RAmy3D promoter is induced by sugar deprivation (Hellwig S et al, 2004).

Promoters suitable for expression in E. coli host cell include, but are not limited to, the bacteriophage lamba pL promoter, the lac, TRP and IPTG-inducible pTAC promoters.

It is preferred that the peptidic secretion signal and the inducible promoter are functional in the same host cell.

More preferably, the peptidic secretion signal and the inducible promoter are functional in both Drosophila S2 cells and vertebrate cells.

The term “inducible” as applied to a promoter is well understood by those skilled in the art. In essence, expression under the control of an inducible promoter is “switched on” or increased in response to an applied stimulus. The nature of the stimulus varies between promoters. Some inducible promoters cause little or undetectable levels of expression (or no expression) in the absence of the appropriate stimulus. Other inducible promoters cause detectable constitutive expression in the absence of the stimulus. Whatever the level of expression is in the absence of the stimulus, expression from any inducible promoter is increased in the presence of the correct stimulus.

Once an appropriate vector has been constructed and transfected into the selected host cell, preferably a Drosophila cell line, the expression of an heterologous protein is induced by the addition of an appropriate inducing agent for the inducible promoter. For example cadmium or copper are inducing agents for the Hsp70 promoter. For constitutive promoters, such as the actin 5C promoter, no inducing agent is required for expression.

The human MGMT enzyme of the invention is preferably encoded by the human MGMT gene sequence NM_002412.3, gene ID 4255 (SEQ ID NO:3) or by the optimised sequence SEQ ID NO: 68 (comprising only 50% of G/C). Nevertheless, any homologous sequence thereof can be used in the context of the invention, provided that it encodes a functional MGMT enzyme, mutant or catalytic domain thereof, preferably SEQ ID NO: 4 or SEQ ID NO:2.

Preferred DNA sequences encoding said MGMT mutant are the SNAP DNA sequence SEQ ID NO:1, or the DNA sequences SEQ ID NO:47 or SEQ ID NO:67 encoding the SEQ ID NO:2 but having a G/C content of 51%.

In another embodiment of the invention, the nucleotide vector of the invention encodes at least a fragment of the MGMT enzyme (for example a fragment of SEQ ID NO:4), or a fragment of an homologous thereof (for example a fragment of the MGMT mutant of sequence SEQ ID NO:2), that retains the biological activity of increasing the expression of the protein of interest by a factor of at least 0.5 times the level obtained with the full-length enzyme from which it is a fragment. As an example, if the production level is of 100 mg/L with the full-length enzyme of SEQ ID NO:4, then any fragments of SEQ ID NO:4 having a production level of at least 50 mg/L (in the same experimental conditions as for the full-length enzyme of SEQ ID NO:4) are encompassed within the present invention.

In another embodiment of the invention, the nucleotide expression vector encodes at least one peptidic cleavage site, which is preferably located between the MGMT enzyme or its catalytic domain and the recombinant protein of interest.

A peptidic cleavage site (also called “peptide cleavage site”) is an amino acid sequence which is recognized by at least one protease enzyme (for example serine protease, cysteine protease, among others). An example of a peptidic cleavage site is the enterokinase cleavage site of SEQ ID NO:62 (AspAspAspAspLys/Asp), for example encoded by the DNA sequence SEQ ID NO:12. The enterokinase is a serine protease enzyme (EC 3.4.21.9) which is known to convert inactive trypsinogen into active trypsin by cleavage at the C-terminal end of the sequence: Val-(Asp)₄-Lys-Ile-Val˜ (trypsinogen)→Val-(Asp)₄-Lys (hexapeptide)+Ile-Val˜(trypsin). Enterokinase cleaves after Lysine if the Lys is preceded by four Asp and not followed by a Proline residue.

Another useful peptidic cleavage site is the cleavage site of the so-called “TEV protease”, having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO:53 or SEQ ID NO: 65 (Glu Asn Leu Tyr Phe Gln Gly or Ser), and which is for example encoded by the DNA sequence SEQ ID NO:52 or SEQ ID NO:66. TEV protease is the common name for the 27 kDa catalytic domain of the nuclear inclusion a protein encoded by the tobacco etch virus. It is commercially available (Invitrogen).

The cleavage site from the membrane precursor prM from Dengue virus serotype 1 (SEQ ID NO:61) may also be used in the vector of the invention.

In another embodiment, the nucleotide expression vector of the invention further encodes a label, preferably located at the C terminal end of the recombinant protein in the fusion polypeptide of the invention (comprising the peptidic signal, the MGMT protein or homologous thereof, and the recombinant protein).

In the context of the invention, a “label” is dedicated to facilitate the recovery of the polypeptide from the crude lysate of the host cell, and is preferably selected from the group comprising: fluorescent proteins, poly-histidine (poly-his) or poly-histidine-glycine (poly-his-gly) tags; flu HA tags; c-myc tag Herpes Simplex virus glycoprotein D (gD) tags, Flag-peptides, alpha-tubulin epitopes, or T7 gene 10 protein peptide tags. However, any other label might be use. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the vectors comprise the DNA encoding a hexa-hystidine tag which has the SEQ ID NO:14.

In another embodiment, the nucleotide expression vector of the invention further encodes spacer sequence(s), located preferably between the MGMT enzyme (or its catalytic domain) and the recombinant protein of interest and/or between the recombinant protein of interest and the label.

In the context of the invention, a spacer sequence is an amino acid sequence comprising at least three amino acids, dedicated to spatially separate two linked polypeptides (these polypeptides being then indirectly linked). Such spacer can be for example the amino acid sequence Glycine-Glycine-Glycine-Serine (GGGS, SEQ ID NO:63) and the DNA spacer sequence encoding it can be SEQ ID NO:13. In the context of this invention, this DNA sequence is hereafter designated as “DNA spacer sequence” and is located between the DNA encoding MGMT or its catalytic domain, and the recombinant DNA sequence, preferably upstream from the DNA sequence encoding the peptidic cleavage site.

Nucleotide expression vector that are disclosed by the present invention can have the sequence SEQ ID NO:9, the sequence SEQ ID NO:10 or the SEQ ID NO: 64 (corresponding to empty vectors without recombinant gene of interest inserted in the cloning sites). In a particular embodiment, the vector of the invention can encode:

-   -   a peptidic BiP insect signal (which is preferably functional in         S2 drosophila cells) or a BiP-like signal as defined above,     -   a MGMT protein of SEQ ID NO:4 or a SNAP protein of SEQ ID NO:2,     -   a recombinant protein of interest,     -   an enterokinase peptidic cleavage site or a proTEV cleavage site         as defined above,     -   a poly-Histidine label, and,     -   two spacer sequences having the amino acid sequence         Glycine-Glycine-Glycine-Serine (GGGS, SEQ ID NO:63).

In a more preferred embodiment, the expression vector of the invention encodes:

-   -   a peptidic BiP insect signal of SEQ ID NO:48,     -   a MGMT protein of SEQ ID NO:4 or a SNAP protein of SEQ ID NO:2,     -   a recombinant protein of interest,     -   an enterokinase peptidic cleavage site of SEQ ID NO:62,     -   a poly-Histidine label, and,     -   two spacer sequences having the amino acid sequence         Glycine-Glycine-Glycine-Serine (GGGS).

In another preferred embodiment, the expression vector of the invention encodes:

-   -   a BiP-like peptide signal of SEQ ID NO:51,     -   a MGMT protein of SEQ ID NO:4 or a SNAP protein of SEQ ID NO:2,     -   a recombinant protein of interest,     -   a proTEV peptidic cleavage site of SEQ ID NO:53,     -   a poly-Histidine label, and,     -   two spacer sequences having the amino acid sequence         Glycine-Glycine-Glycine-Serine (GGGS).

Such vectors can for example comprise the sequence SEQ ID NO:19 (when the protein of interest is the nucleoprotein N of the RVF virus), SEQ ID NO:20 (when the protein of interest is the nucleoprotein N of the West Nile virus), SEQ ID NO:21 or 57 or 72 or 74 (when the protein of interest is IFNα), SEQ ID NO: 77, 79 or 81 (when the protein of interest is the cancer antigen SSX2), SEQ ID NO:55 (when the protein of interest is Granzyme M), SEQ ID NO:89 (when the protein of interest is FasL), SEQ ID NO:84 or 86 (when the protein of interest is the cancer antigen NERCMSL), or SEQ ID NO:92 (when the protein of interest is the contacting CNTN4).

In a second aspect, the present invention also discloses a vector for expressing recombinant proteins in host cells, comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding in a single open reading frame, from 5′ to 3′:

-   -   a) a peptidic secretion signal,     -   b) a MGMT protein of SEQ ID NO:4 or a SNAP protein of SEQ ID         NO:2,     -   c) at least one peptidic cleavage site,     -   d) a poly-Histidine label, and,     -   e) at least one spacer sequence.

In a preferred embodiment, said peptidic secretion signal is the BiP-like peptide signal of SEQ ID NO:50.

In a rather preferred embodiment, said vector comprises two proTEV peptidic cleavage sites of SEQ ID NO:52 and/or two spacer sequences having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO:63.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, said vector comprises the sequence SEQ ID NO:59 or SEQ ID NO:69, said sequences being referred to in this application as the universal DeSNAP cassette “DeSNAP Univ” and DeMGMT cassette “DeMGMT Univ” respectively.

These “DeSNAP Univ” (SEQ ID NO:59) and “DeMGMT Univ” (SEQ ID NO:69) are held as “universal” sequences since they can be inserted in any kind of vectors dedicated to transfect host cells in order to produce heterologous proteins, namely vertebrate vectors (such as pcDNA3 or pCI-neo vectors) as well non-vertebrate vectors (such as pMT/BiPN5-HisA which is useful in the DES system, see the examples below).

Examples of plasmid comprising said universal sequences are SEQ ID NO:64 (pUC57 comprising DeSNAP Univ) and SEQ ID NO:71 (pUC57 with DeMGMT Univ).

Once the heterologous sequence of a protein of interest is cloned herein, such a vector can be advantageously transfected in either vertebrate or non-vertebrate host cells, so as to produce the protein of interest in high amounts.

In a third aspect, the present invention targets the recombinant cell which is stably transfected by said DeSNAP Univ or DeMGMT Univ vector, i.e. by the expression vector comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding in a single open reading frame, from 5′ to 3′:

-   -   a) a peptidic secretion signal,     -   b) a MGMT protein of SEQ ID NO:4 or a SNAP protein of SEQ ID         NO:2,     -   c) at least one peptidic cleavage site,     -   d) a poly-Histidine label, and,     -   e) at least one spacer sequence,         each component being as defined above.

It preferably comprises the plasmids of SEQ ID NO:64 (pUC57 comprising DeSNAP Univ) or SEQ ID NO:71 (pUC57 with DeMGMT Univ), or at least the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 59 (DeSNAP Univ) or SEQ ID NO:69 (DeMGMT Univ).

Preferably, in this aspect of the invention, said recombinant cell is a E. Coli cell.

This recombinant cell is used in order to amplify and purify the expression vectors of the invention, preferably those comprising DeSNAP Univ of SEQ ID NO:59 (such as SEQ ID NO:64) or DeMGMT Univ of SEQ ID NO:69 (such as SEQ ID NO:71).

The present invention therefore also targets the use of this recombinant cell for producing any expression vector of the invention (said vectors being as defined above).

The nucleotide expression vectors of the invention may also comprise a gene encoding a selection marker, and/or a terminator sequence.

Selection markers genes that can be included in the construct are typically those that confer selectable phenotypes such as resistance to antibiotics (e.g. blasticidin, ampicillin, kanamycin, hygromycin, puromycin, chloramphenicol).

In a fourth aspect, the present invention is drawn to a fusion polypeptide comprising a peptidic secretion signal which is functional in host cells, preferably in non-vertebrate or vertebrate cells, more preferably in insect cells, and the 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase enzyme (MGMT) (EC 2.1.1.63), mutant or catalytic domain thereof as defined above.

In this fusion polypeptide, said MGMT enzyme is preferably the protein of SEQ ID NO:4, the SNAP protein mutant of SEQ ID NO:2, or an homologous thereof.

This fusion polypeptide preferably further comprises a recombinant protein of interest as defined above, preferably located at the C terminal end of the MGMT enzyme or catalytic domain thereof, and/or a label, as defined above. This label is preferably a poly-histidine label, and is preferably located at the C terminal end of the recombinant protein of interest.

The fusion polypeptide of the invention can be the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 33 to 43, SEQ ID NO:56 or SEQ ID NO:58 (when the recombinant protein of interest is GrM), SEQ ID NO:73 or 75 (when the recombinant protein of interest is IFNα), SEQ ID NO:78 or 80 or 82 (when the recombinant protein of interest is the cancer antigen SSX2), SEQ ID NO: 85 or 87 (when the recombinant protein of interest is NERCMSL), SEQ ID NO:90 (when the recombinant protein of interest is FasL), or SEQ ID NO:93 (when the recombinant protein of interest is CNTN4).

Interestingly, the fusion proteins of the invention can be stored at 4° C. during several months without degradation. This in vitro stabilisation effect during storage could be the result of the scaffolding properties of the MGMT protein, and/or of the high concentration which is obtained thanks to the presence of the MGMT protein (typically at least 40 mg/mL).

More importantly, the association with MGMT stabilizes recombinant proteins during the purification process of the secreted proteins. It could thus be used for stabilising recombinant proteins in vivo once administered into a subject in need thereof. The coupling to MGMT would be a means for enhancing the life-span of such recombinant proteins in vivo. This in vivo stabilisation effect is currently under investigation.

In a fifth aspect, the present invention is drawn to a non-vertebrate recombinant host cell comprising the expression vector of the invention.

Non-vertebrate cells can be any cells from the Insect, Arachnida, Crustacea, Mollusca, Annelida, Cirripedia, Radiata, Coelenterata and Infusoria. In the context of the invention, non-vertebrate cells are preferably insect cells, such as Drosophila or Mosquito cells. They are more preferably a Drosophila S2 cells.

Drosophila S2 cells have been widely described. They are especially suited to high-yield production of protein, because they can be maintained in suspension cultures at room temperature (24±1° C.). Culture medium is M3 supplemented with between 5 and 10% (v/v) heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS). In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the culture medium contains 5% FBS. After induction, the cells are cultured in serum-free media. In this media, the S2 cells can be grown in suspension cultures, for example in 250 mL to 2000 mL spinner flasks, with stirring at 50-60 rpm. Cells densities are typically maintained between 10⁶ and 10⁷ cells per mL.

The present invention also targets recombinant S2 Drosophila cells comprising the expression vectors of the invention, said expression vectors comprising preferably the nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of:

-   -   the plasmid SEQ ID NO:64 (pUC57 with DeSNAP Univ) or the         nucleotide sequence cloned in the cell which has been deposited         according to the Budapest Treaty at the Centre National de         Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur, 25 rue         du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France, on Dec. 9, 2011,         under the number CNCM 1-4581,

the vector comprising SEQ ID NO:19 or the nucleotide sequence cloned in the cell which has been deposited according to the Budapest Treaty at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France, on Aug. 19, 2010, under the number CNCM 1-4357,

the vector of the invention comprising SEQ ID NO:22, or the nucleotide sequence cloned in the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur, on Oct. 27, 2010 under the CNCM 1-4381,

the vector of the invention comprising SEQ ID NO:21 or the nucleotide sequence cloned in the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur, on Oct. 27, 2010, under the number CNCM 1-4382,

the vector of SEQ ID NO:9 or the nucleotide sequence cloned in the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur, on Sep. 29, 2010, under the number CNCM 1-4368, and

the vector of the invention comprising SEQ ID NO: 20 or the nucleotide sequence cloned in the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur, on Sep. 29, 2010, under the number CNCM 1-4369,

the vector of SEQ ID NO:71,

the vector of the invention comprising SEQ ID NO:57 or 72 or 74 (when the protein of interest is IFNα), SEQ ID NO: 77, 79 or 81 (when the protein of interest is the cancer antigen SSX2), SEQ ID NO:55 (when the protein of interest is Granzyme M), SEQ ID NO:89 (when the protein of interest is FasL), SEQ ID NO:84 or 86 (when the protein of interest is the cancer antigen NERCMSL), or SEQ ID NO:92 (when the protein of interest is the contacting CNTN4) or SEQ ID NO:96 (when the protein of interest is hSULF-2^(ΔTMD)).

The stably transfected S2 cells of the invention can also be selected from the group consisting of:

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France, on Aug. 19, 2010, under the number CNCM 1-4357,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Oct. 27, 2010 under the CNCM 1-4381,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Oct. 27, 2010, under the number CNCM 1-4382,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Sep. 29, 2010, under the number CNCM 1-4368,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Sep. 29, 2010, under the number CNCM 1-4369,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 5, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4565,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 5, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4566,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 5, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4567,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 5, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4568,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 5, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4569,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 5, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4570,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 5, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4571,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 5, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4572,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 8, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4576,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 8, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4577,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 8, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4578,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 8, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4579,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 8, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4580,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 9, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4582,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 9, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4583,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 9, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4584,

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 9, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4585, and

the cell which has been deposited at the Centre National de Culture et de Microorganismes (CNCM), Institut Pasteur (25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France) on Dec. 9, 2011, under the number CNCM 1-4586.

The recombinant cell deposited under the number CNCM 1-4357 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising the plasmid vector of SEQ ID NO: 19 (pMT/BiP/SNAP-RVF.N/Histag), where RVF.N is the N antigen of the Rift Valley Fever virus (RVF) (see Brehin et al, Virology 371:185, 2008).

The recombinant cell deposited under the number CNCM 1-4381 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiPN5-Histag in which the SEQ ID NO:22 (SNAP/WN.EDIII) has been inserted after the BiP sequence, where WN.EDIII is the III domain of the glycoprotein E of the West Nile virus.

The recombinant cell deposited under the number CNCM 1-4382 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMTN5-Histag in which the SEQ ID NO:21 (BiP/SNAP/IFNαI) has been inserted. IFNα1 is the human alfa 1 interferon of SEQ ID NO:32 (Mokkim et al. Protein expression purif. 63:140, 2009).

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4369 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiPN5-Histag containing the SEQ ID NO:20 (WN.sE/SNAP/histag), where WN.sE is the soluble form of the E envelope protein of the West Nile virus.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4369 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiPN5-Hi stag containing the SEQ ID NO:20 (WN. sE/SNAP/histag), where WN.sE is the soluble form of the E envelope protein of the West Nile virus.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4565 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+DV1.EDIII/Hi stag, where DV1.EDIII encodes the EDIII protein of the Dengue virus 1, and has the sequence SEQ ID NO:27.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4566 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+DV2.EDIII/Histag, where DV2.EDIII encodes the EDIII protein of the Dengue virus 2, and has the sequence SEQ ID NO:28.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4567 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+DV3.EDIII/Histag, where DV3.EDIII encodes the EDIII protein of the Dengue virus 3, and has the sequence SEQ ID NO:29.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4568 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+DV4.EDIII/Histag, where DV4.EDIII encodes the EDIII protein of the Dengue virus 4, and has the sequence SEQ ID NO:30.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4569 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+YF.EDIII/Histag, where YF.EDIII encodes the EMI protein of the Yellow Fever virus, and has the sequence SEQ ID NO:31.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4570 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+JE.EDIII/Histag, where JE.EDIII encodes the EDIII protein of the Japanese encephalitis virus, and has the sequence SEQ ID NO:25.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4571 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+USU.EDIII/Histag, where USU.EDIII encodes the EDIII protein of the Usutu virus, and has the sequence SEQ ID NO:24.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4572 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+TBE.EDIII/Histag, where TBE.EDIII encodes the EDIII protein of the Tick-borne encephalitis virus, and has the sequence SEQ ID NO:26.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4576 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+MVE.EDIII/Histag, where MVE.EDIII encodes the EDIII protein of the Murray encephalitis virus.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4577 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+Rocio.EDIII/Histag, where Rocio.EDIII encodes the EDIII protein of the Rocio virus.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4578 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+SLE.EDIII/Histag, where SLE.EDIII encodes the EMI protein of the Saint-Louis encephalitis virus.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4579 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+WSL.EDIII/Histag, where WSL.EDIII encodes the EDIII protein of the Wesselbron virus.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4580 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+Zika.EDIII/Histag, where Zika.EDIII encodes the EDIII protein of the Zika virus.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4583 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+SSX2/Histag, where SSX2 is of SEQ ID NO:76.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4584 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+NERCMSL/Histag, where NERCMSL is of SEQ ID NO:83.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4585 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/SNAP+GrM/Histag, where GrM is of SEQ ID NO:54.

The recombinant cell deposited at the CNCM 1-4586 is the stable macrophage Drosophila cell line S2 comprising a plasmid vector pMT/BiP/ProTEV/Histag, where proTEV is of SEQ ID NO:52.

In a sixth aspect, the present invention targets also a vertebrate recombinant cell which is stably transfected by the expression vector of the invention.

Preferably, said vertebrate recombinant cell is a mammal cell, a preferably CHO, YB2/O, COS, HEK, NIH3T3, HeLa cell or derivatives thereof. More preferably, in this case, the expression vector of the invention comprises SEQ ID NO: 57 or 72 or 74 (when the protein of interest is IFNα), SEQ ID NO: 77, 79 or 81 (when the protein of interest is the cancer antigen SSX2), SEQ ID NO:55 (when the protein of interest is Granzyme M), SEQ ID NO:89 (when the protein of interest is FasL), SEQ ID NO:84 or 86 (when the protein of interest is the cancer antigen NERCMSL), SEQ ID NO:92 (when the protein of interest is the contacting CNTN4) or SEQ ID NO:96 (when the protein of interest is hSULF2^(ΔTMD)). In a seventh aspect, the present invention is drawn to a method of enhancing expression of recombinant protein(s) comprising co-expressing said protein(s) with a peptidic secretion signal, together with the enzyme 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) (EC 2.1.1.63), a mutant or a catalytic domain thereof. Said co-expression is performed preferably in non-vertebrate cells, and, more preferably, insect cells.

More preferably, in this method, the MGMT enzyme is the protein of SEQ ID NO:4 or an homologous thereof, for example the SNAP protein of SEQ ID NO:2 or an homologous thereof.

In the context of the invention, the term “enhancing expression” of a heterologous protein means that the expression of said protein in the supernatant of the recombinant cells or within the cells themselves is improved by a factor of at least 2 fold, preferably 5 fold, more preferably 10 fold, and even more preferably 20 fold, as compared with the expression and/or secretion of said protein obtained with a recombinant vector of the prior art, that is, that does not co-express the protein with a MGMT or a SNAP protein. In a preferred embodiment, the term “enhancing expression” means that it is possible to recover from the supernatant of the host cells that have been transfected with the vector of the invention at least 40 mg/L, preferably at least 50 mg/L, more preferably at least 60 mg/L of a protein of interest.

The term “co-expressing” means that the DNA sequences encoding i) the recombinant protein, ii) the MGMT enzyme, mutant or catalytic domain thereof, and iii) the peptidic secretion signal, are operatively linked and regulated by the same expression control sequence (i.e. transcriptional and translational control sequences). The translation of the DNA sequences encoding the peptidic secretion signal, the heterologous protein of interest and the MGMT enzyme therefore leads to the formation of a fusion polypeptide, in which the proteins can be separated by a spacer sequence, and/or an enzyme cleavage site as defined above.

The “peptidic secretion signal” of the fusion polypeptide of the invention is a secretion signal which is preferably functional either in non-vertebrate cells, or in vertebrate cells, or both, and more preferably in insect cells, even more preferably in Drosophila S2 cells.

Examples of peptidic secretion signals which are functional in insect cells are: the insect ssBiP of SEQ ID NO:48, the BiP-like signal of SEQ ID NO:51 and any peptide signal present in an arbovirus, for example the envelop E protein of the West-Nile virus (SEQ ID NO: 15).

One example of a peptidic secretion signal which is functional in both vertebrate and non-vertebrate cells is the BiP-like signal of SEQ ID NO:51.

In a eighth aspect, the present invention is drawn to a method to improve the production of a recombinant protein of interest or to produce recombinant proteins in cell culture, comprising the use of the vector of the invention as described above, or the recombinant host cells as described above.

More precisely, said method to improve the production of a recombinant protein of interest, or to produce recombinant proteins in cell culture, comprises the steps of:

a) providing the nucleotide expression vector of the invention, encoding said protein of interest,

b) introducing said expression vector into host cells, preferably non-vertebrate or vertebrate host cells,

c) allowing for the expression of the nucleotide introduced in said host cells to produce said recombinant protein of interest.

Preferably, said non-vertebrate host cells are insect cells, for example Drosophila S2 cells.

Preferably, said vertebrate hosts cells are mammal cells, for example CHO, YB2/O, COS, HEK, NIH3T3, HeLa cells or derivatives thereof.

By using this method, the recombinant protein of interest is expressed at least at 40 mg/L of the recovered cell culture supernatant or greater.

The use of the Drosophila cell line S2 which secretes the gene product directly into the media is a preferred embodiment of the present invention (direct secretion into the media allows utilisation of an efficient one-step purification system).

In a ninth embodiment, the present invention is drawn to the use of the enzyme 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) (EC 2.1.1.63), mutant, or catalytic domain thereof, for enhancing the production level of recombinant protein(s) preferably in non-vertebrate and/or vertebrate host cells, more preferably in insect cells or mammal cells, infected with replicative or defective vectors.

The MGMT enzyme can be the human MGMT (referenced as NP_002403.2) of sequence SEQ ID NO:4, the mouse MGMT identified as NP_032624.1 (SEQ ID NO: 45), the rat MGMT identified as NP_036993.1 (SEQ ID NO:46), an homologous sequence thereof, or sub-fragments thereof.

Preferably, the MGMT mutant enzyme is the SNAP protein of SEQ ID NO:2 or is homologous thereof, i.e. it is at least identical at more than 80%, preferably 85%, more preferably 90% to the SNAP protein of sequence SEQ ID NO:2.

Said non-vertebrate cells are preferably insect cells, for example Drosophila S2 cells.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is drawn to the use of the enzyme 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) (EC 2.1.1.63), mutant, or catalytic domain thereof, for enhancing the production level of recombinant protein(s) in vertebrate cells, for example in mammal cells, infected with replicative or defective vectors.

Said vertebrate cells are preferably EBX, CHO, YB2/O, COS, HEK, NIH3T3 cells or derivatives thereof.

Also, the present invention is drawn to the use of a DNA sequence encoding an MGMT enzyme, mutant or catalytic domain thereof, for improving the production level of protein(s) of interest in recombinant cells.

The present invention is also drawn to the use of a DNA sequence encoding an MGMT enzyme, mutant or catalytic domain thereof, for i) stabilizing recombinant protein(s) of interest in vitro and in vivo, and thus ii) enhancing their life-span in vitro and in vivo.

Such DNA sequence is for example the human MGMT gene sequence NM 002412.3, gene ID 4255 (SEQ ID NO:3) or any homologous sequence thereof which encodes a functional MGMT enzyme, a mutant, or a catalytic domain thereof (preferably SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ NO: 47, SEQ ID NO: 67 or SEQ ID NO:68).

In particular, the present invention is drawn to the use of the 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase enzyme (MGMT, EC 2.1.1.63), mutants or catalytic domain thereof as protective polypeptide fused or linked to recombinant proteins to improve recombinant protein half-life in storage medium, in plasma or in buffer, to improve half-life of recombinant protein used as medicament or vaccine, or to improve half-life of recombinant protein used in diagnostic kits.

In the context of the invention, the term “improving the production level” or “enhancing the production level” of a heterologous protein means that the expression of said protein in the supernatant of said cells or inside the cells is improved by a factor of at least 2 fold, preferably 5 fold, more preferably 10 fold, and even more preferably 20 fold, as compared with the expression of said protein obtained with a recombinant vector of the prior art, that is, that does not comprise the vector of the invention. In a preferred embodiment, the term “improving the production” means that it is possible to recover from the supernatant of the host cells that have been transfected with the vector of the invention at least 40 mg/L, preferably at least 50 mg/L, more preferably at least 60 mg/L of a protein of interest.

In a preferred embodiment, said recombinant protein is chosen among: insulin, IFN, SSX2, Granzyme M, FasL, Mesotheline (NERMCSL), endosulfatase (hSULF) or contactins.

In a particular embodiment, the present invention is also drawn to a method for the production of a recombinant protein of interest, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining an heterologous DNA sequence encoding a recombinant protein of interest;

(b) inserting said heterologous DNA sequence into the nucleotide expression vector of the invention, said vector having for example the DNA sequence SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:64 or SEQ ID NO:71,

(c) transfecting an host cell (preferably an insect cell or a mammal cell) with the polynucleotide obtained under step (b);

(d) allowing for the expression of said polynucleotide obtained under step (c) to produce the protein of interest;

(e) optionally, cleaving the MGMT polypeptide,

(f) recovering the protein of interest,

(g) optionally, purifying the protein of interest.

For performing the different steps of the method of the present invention, there may be employed conventional molecular biology, microbiology and recombinant DNA techniques within the skill of the art. Such techniques are explained fully in the literature. See, for example, Sambrook, Fitsch & Maniatis, Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Second Edition (1989) Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (referred to herein as “Sambrook et al., 1989”); DNA Cloning: A Practical Approach, Volumes I and II (D. N. Glover ed. 1985); Oligonucleotide Synthesis (M. J. Gait ed. 1984); Nucleic Acid Hybridization (B. D. Hames & S. J. Higgins, eds. 1984); Animal Cell Culture (R. I. Freshney, ed. 1986); Immobilized Cells and Enzymes (IRL Press, 1986); B. E. Perbal, A Practical Guide to Molecular Cloning (1984); F. M. Ausubel et al. (eds.), Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (1994).

The term “transfection” means the introduction of a foreign nucleic acid into a eukaryotic host cell so that the host cell will express the introduced gene or sequence to produce a desired substance, in this invention a protein coded by the introduced gene or sequence. A host cell that receives and expresses introduced DNA or RNA has been “transfected” and is a “transfectant” or a “clone”. The DNA or RNA introduced to a host cell can come from any source, including cells of the same genus or species as the host cell or cells of a different genus or species.

In the context of the invention, the transfection of the host cells with the polynucleotides can be performed by a classical method in the art, for example by transfection, infection, or electroporation. In another embodiment, the vector of the invention can be introduced in vivo by lipofection (as naked DNA), or with other transfection facilitating agents (peptides, polymers, etc.). Synthetic cationic lipids can be used to prepare liposomes for in vivo transfection of a gene encoding a marker (Feigner et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 84:7413-7417, 1987). Useful lipid compounds and compositions for transfer of nucleic acids are described in WO 95/18863 and WO 96/17823, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,127. Lipids may be chemically coupled to other molecules for the purpose of targeting (see, Mackey et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 85:8027-8031, 1988). Targeted peptides, such as hormones or neurotransmitters, and proteins such as antibodies, or non-peptide molecules could be coupled to liposomes chemically. Other molecules are also useful for facilitating transfection of a nucleic acid in vivo, such as a cationic oligopeptides (see WO 95/21931), peptides derived from DNA binding proteins (see WO 96/25508), or a cationic polymer (see WO 95/21931). It is also possible to introduce the vector in vivo as a naked DNA plasmid. Naked DNA vectors for gene therapy can be introduced into the desired host cells by methods known in the art, such as electroporation, microinjection, cell fusion, DEAE dextran, calcium phosphate precipitation, use of a gene gun, or use of a DNA vector transporter (see, Wu et al., J. Biol. Chem., 267:963-967, 1992; Wu and Wu, J. Biol. Chem., 263:14621-14624, 1988; Williams et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 88:2726-2730, 1991).

The term “allowing for the expression” of a polynucleotide herein means that the stimulus of the regulatory sequences that are present in the vector (e.g. the stimulus activating the inducible promoter), and all the required components are present in a sufficient amount for the translation of the polynucleotide to occur.

If need be, the cleaving of the MGMT/SNAP polypeptide of the produced fusion protein is obtained by adding a protease having a define cleavage site in the supernatant of or into the recombinant cells. For example, the cleavage of the enterokinase cleavage site DDDK/D is obtained by adding an enterokinase enzyme in the supernatant of the recombinant cells. Alternatively, the MGMT/SNAP polypeptide can be maintained so as to enhance the life-span of the recombinant proteins.

Moreover, the skilled artisan will appreciate that an expressed or secreted protein or polypeptide can be detected in the culture medium used to maintain or grow the present host cells. The culture medium can be separated from the host cells by known procedures, such as centrifugation or filtration. The protein or polypeptide can then be detected in the cell-free culture medium by taking advantage of known properties characteristic of the protein or polypeptide. Such properties can include the distinct immunological, enzymatic or physical properties of the protein or polypeptide. For example, if a protein or polypeptide has a unique enzyme activity an assay for that activity can be performed on the culture medium used by the host cells. Moreover, when antibodies reactive against a given protein or polypeptide are available, such antibodies can be used to detect the protein or polypeptide in any known immunological assay (for example as in Harlowe, et al., 1988, Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press).

Recovery of the protein of interest is mediated by the means well-known in the art, including, but not limited to, preparative disc-gel electrophoresis, isoelectric focusing, HPLC, reversed-phase HPLC, gel filtration, ion exchange and partition chromatography, precipitation and salting-out chromatography, extraction, and countercurrent distribution, and the like. As it is preferable to produce the protein of interest in the recombinant system of the invention linked with a label, said label will facilitate the recovery of the polypeptide from the crude lysate of the host cell by chromatography on an appropriate solid-phase matrix. Alternatively, antibodies produced against the protein or against peptides derived therefrom can be used as recovery reagents.

A further step (g) of purification may be achieved, but interestingly is not required.

A purified material may contain less than about 50%, preferably less than about 75%, and most preferably less than about 90%, of the cellular components with which it was originally associated. The “substantially pure” indicates the highest degree of purity which can be achieved using conventional purification techniques known in the art.

In an embodiment of the invention, the methods of the invention enable to obtain at least 40 mg/L, preferably at least 50 mg/L, more preferably at least 60 mg/L of the substantially pure protein of interest in the recovered cell culture supernatant.

The recombinant proteins of interest and the fusion proteins of the invention (i.e. the recombinant proteins coupled with the MGMT/SNAP polypeptide, which are more stable than the recombinant proteins alone) may be useful in a variety of products. For example, these recombinant and/or fusion proteins may be used in pharmaceutical compositions, for example for the treatment of viral infections.

In a preferred embodiment, said recombinant protein is chosen among: insulin, IFN, FasL, Granzyme M, SSX2, Mesotheline (NERMCSL), endosulfatase (hSULF) or contactins.

In another embodiment, the present invention provides infectious viral particles comprising the above-described nucleic acid vectors. Typically, such viral particles are produced by a process comprising the steps of:

(a) introducing the viral vector of the invention into a suitable cell line,

(b) culturing said cell line under suitable conditions so as to allow the production of said infectious viral particle,

(c) recovering the produced infectious viral particle from the culture of said cell line, and

(d) optionally purifying said recovered infectious viral particle.

When the viral vector is defective, the infectious particles are usually produced in a complementation cell line or via the use of a helper virus, which supplies in trans the non functional viral genes. For example, suitable cell lines for complementing E1-deleted adenoviral vectors include the 293 cells as well as the PER-C6 cells. The infectious viral particles may be recovered from the culture supernatant or from the cells after lysis. They can be further purified according to standard techniques (chromatography, ultracentrifugation in a cesium chloride gradient as described for example in WO96/27677, WO98/00524, WO98/22588, WO98/26048, WO00/40702, EP1016700 and WO00/50573).

The present invention is thus drawn to pharmaceutical compositions comprising the expression vector, the recombinant proteins, the fusion proteins, the host cells or the viral particles of the invention, or any combination thereof. Such pharmaceutical compositions comprise a therapeutic amount of the vector, particles, cells or proteins obtained by the method of the invention in admixture with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

The composition can be systematically administered parenterally, intravenously or subcutaneously. When systematically administered, the therapeutic composition for use in this invention is in the form of a pyrogen-free, parenterally acceptable protein solution. The preparation of such parenterally acceptable protein solution, having due regard to pH, isotonicity, stability and the like, is within the skill of the art.

The dosage regimen will be determined by attending clinician, considering various factors which modify the action of drugs, e.g. the condition body weight, sew and diet of the patient, the severity of the infection, time of administration and other clinical factors. The pharmaceutical carrier and other components of a pharmaceutical composition would be selected by one of skill in the art.

Additionally the fusion and recombinant proteins of the present invention may be used as components of vaccines to inoculate mammalian subjects against viral infection for example. These proteins may be used either alone or with other recombinant proteins or therapeutic vaccinal agents. Components of such a vaccine would be determined by one of skill in the art.

The present invention also encompasses the use of the fusion proteins, the expression vectors, the infectious viral particles, the host cells or the pharmaceutical compositions of the invention for the preparation of a medicament, in particular a vaccine.

The present invention also provides a method for the treatment or the prevention of a human or animal organism, comprising administering to said organism a therapeutically effective amount of the fusion proteins, the expression vectors, the infectious viral particles, the host cells or the compositions of the invention.

Finally the proteins of the present invention, and especially the SNAP-protein of interest fusion, may be useful as diagnostic agents for the detection of the presence of cancer, viral infection or antibodies to viral proteins in biological fluids, such as blood, serum, saliva, and the like. These proteins may also be employed in methods to identify and/or isolate viral proteins in biological fluids and tissues. The proteins may thus be components in kits to perform such methods.

Thus, in another aspect, the present invention is also drawn to the use of recombinant proteins or MGMT- or SNAP-tagged recombinant proteins from pathogenic or non-pathogenic microorganisms obtained by any method of the invention for identifying the presence of said pathogenic or non-pathogenic microorganisms in a biological sample. In a preferred embodiment, said pathogenic microorganism is a virus, and the MGMT- or SNAP-tagged protein is a viral protein, such as EDIII from the Chikungunya, Dengue, Japanese encephalitis (JE), Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), Yellow fever (YF), Usutu (USU) or West Nile viruses, or the nucleoprotein N from Rift Valley Fever or Toscana viruses.

In the context of the invention, said biological sample is meant to be a blood sample, an urine sample, or any biological sample which is possibly infected by the virus.

EXAMPLES 1. Plasmid(s) Construction

1.1. The plasmid pMT/BiPN5-His A was used. It contains 3642 nucleotides and contains the following features:

-   -   Metallothionein promoter: bases 412-778     -   Start of transcription: base 778     -   MT Forward priming site: bases 814-831     -   BiP signal sequence: bases 851-904 (SEQ ID NO:11)     -   Multiple cloning site: bases 906-999     -   V5 epitope tag: bases 1003-1044     -   Polyhistidine region: bases 1054-1074     -   BGH Reverse priming site: bases 1094-1111     -   SV40 late polyadenylation signal: bases 1267-1272     -   pUC origin: bases 1765-2438 (complementary strand)     -   bla promoter: bases 3444-3542 (complementary strand)     -   Ampicillin (bla) resistance gene ORF: bases 2583-3443         (complementary strand)

The pUC57 Amp vector can also be used for the purposes of the invention. This vector comprises:

-   -   The unique cloning site EcoR I     -   The Methallothionein promoter,     -   The 5′ non-coding region of genomic RNA from West Nile virus         strain IS-98-ST1,     -   An initiation codon of translation (ATG),     -   The signal peptide of the envelope E protein from West Nile         virus strain IS-98-ST1 (SEQ ID NO: 15),     -   The 3′ non-coding region of genomic RNA from West Nile virus         strain IS-98-ST1 in which two repeat sequences and the 3′end         stem-loop have been deleted,     -   The S40 polyA signal motif,     -   An unique cloning site Apa I.         1.2. SNAP Cloning

Amplification of the DNA encoding the SNAP protein sequence SEQ ID NO:2 was performed on template pMT/BiP/CHIK.sE2+SNAPtag by PCR using the couple of 5′-SNAP and 3′-MCS primers as described below.

Primer 5′-SNAP: (SEQ ID NO: 7) 5′-aaaaaagatctgacaaagactgcgaaatg-3′ Primer 3′-MCS: (SEQ ID NO: 8) 5′-gaggagagggttagggataggcttacc-3′

The PCR product was then digested by BglII and NotI and inserted between the unique BglII (at the 5′ end of MCS) and NotI (at the 3′ end of the MCS) sites of the linearized plasmid p/MT/BiP/V5-A in the DES system.

The resulting plasmid is the pMT/BiP/SNAP-Histag vector of SEQ ID NO:9, which comprises:

-   -   The insect ssBiP sequence of SEQ ID NO:11,     -   the SNAP DNA sequence of SEQ ID NO:1,     -   the enterokinase cleavage site of SEQ ID NO:12,     -   a EcoRV-SmaI restriction site,     -   the DNA encoding a His6tag (SEQ ID NO:14) located downstream of         the restriction site, and     -   two DNA spacer sequences of SEQ ID NO:13 located i) between the         enhancer sequence and the EcoRV-SmaI restriction site, and ii)         between the EcoRV-SmaI restriction site and the DNA encoding a         His6tag.

A pMT/BiP/SNAP-Histag vector can also be obtained from a pUC57 backbone and a vector having the sequence SEQ ID NO: 10 is obtained. This vector comprises:

-   -   The unique cloning site EcoR I     -   Methallothionin promoter     -   The 5′ non-coding region of genomic RNA from West Nile virus         strain IS-98-ST1,     -   An initiation codon of translation,     -   The signal peptide of the envelope E protein from West Nile         virus strain IS-98-ST1 of SEQ ID NO:15,     -   The SNAP DNA sequence of SEQ ID NO:47,     -   Unique cloning sites EcoR V et SmaI/Xma I for inserting in frame         the foreign sequence,     -   The Enterokinase cleavage site of SEQ ID NO:12, located between         the SNAP enhancer DNA and the cloning sites,     -   A DNA encoding a Hexa-histidin tag sequence (SEQ ID NO:14),     -   Two DNA spacer sequence of SEQ ID NO:13, located i) between the         enhancer sequence and the EcoRV-SmaI restriction site, and ii)         between the EcoRV-SmaI restriction site and the DNA encoding a         His6tag.     -   Two stop codons of translation,     -   The 3′ non-coding region of genomic RNA from West Nile virus         strain IS-98-ST1 in which two repeat sequencse and the 3′end         stem-loop have been deleted,     -   S40 polyA signal motifs and     -   Unique cloning site Apa I.

A pMT/BiP-like/SNAP-Hi stag vector can also be obtained from a pUC57 backbone in which the SEQ ID NO: 59 (see also FIG. 8) has been inserted between the unique sites Eco RV and Hind III. This vector has the sequence SEQ ID NO: 64. It comprises:

-   -   The unique cloning site EcoR I     -   Methallothionin promoter     -   The 5′ non-coding region of genomic RNA from West Nile virus         strain IS-98-ST1,     -   An initiation codon of translation,     -   The signal peptide of the envelope E protein from West Nile         virus strain IS-98-ST1 of SEQ ID NO:15,     -   The SNAP DNA sequence of SEQ ID NO:47,     -   Unique cloning sites BamHI, EcoR V, ApaI and Xma I for inserting         in frame the foreign sequence,     -   two proTEV cleavage sites of SEQ ID NO:52, located between the         SNAP enhancer DNA and the HisTag,     -   A DNA encoding a Hexa-histidin tag sequence (SEQ ID NO:14),     -   Two DNA spacer sequences of SEQ ID NO:13, located i) between the         enhancer sequence and the EcoRV-SmaI restriction site, and ii)         between the ApaI restriction site and the DNA encoding a         His6tag.     -   Two stop codons of translation,     -   The 3′ non-coding region of genomic RNA from West Nile virus         strain IS-98-ST1 in which two repeat sequences and the 3′end         stem-loop have been deleted,     -   S40 polyA signal motifs and     -   Unique cloning site Apa I.         1.3. Cloning of a Gene of Interest         1.3.1. Nucleoprotein N of the Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVF-N)

Directed mutagenesis on a cDNA coding for the RFV-N protein sequence was performed by PCR using the couple of 5′-N and 3′-N′ primers as listed below.

Primer 5′-N: (SEQ ID NO: 17) 5′-aaaaaggcgcgccagggggtggcggatctgacaactatcaagag cttcgagtccagtttgctgctc-3′ Primer 3′-N: (SEQ ID NO: 18) 5′-aaaaaaccggtcaatgatgatgatgatgatgacttccaccgccg gctgctgtcttgtaagcctgagcgg-3′ 1.3.2. Non-viral protein, for example interferon IFNα1 or Granzyme M

The human IFNα1 protein sequence of SEQ ID NO:32 can also be used.

The human Granzyme M protein sequence of SEQ ID NO:54 can also be used. Granzyme M is a chymotrypsin-like serine protease that preferentially cuts its substrates after Met or Leu. It is constitutively expressed in activated innate effector natural killer cells. This protease also has anti-viral and anti-tumor properties (van Domselaar R. et al, The Journal of Immunology 2010; Hu D. et al, The Journal of Biological Chemistry 2010).

1.4. Insertion of a protein-encoding gene into the pMT/BiP/SNAP-Histag or pMT/BiP like/SNAP-Histag vector, so as to obtain pMT/BiP/SNAP-PROTEIN-Histag or pMT/BiPlike/SNAP-PROTEIN-Histag vectors

1.4.1. RVF.N

The PCR products obtained in point 1.3.1. were digested by BssHII and AgeI and inserted between the unique BssHII (at the 3′end of SNAP gene) and AgeI (at the 3′end of the MCS of shuttle vector) sites of the linearized plasmid p/MT/BiP/SNAP-Histag obtained in point 1.2.

The resulting plasmid is for example pMT/BiP/SNAP-RVF.N/Histag (SEQ ID NO:19).

1.4.2. ED III proteins of different flaviviruses

To enhance the specificity of ELISA or immunoblotting tests based on recombinant flaviviral antigens, the antigenic domain III of the E protein (ED III) appears to be a promising approach (Ludolfs et al. 2007). The production of recombinant EDIII from West Nile (WN), Usutu (USU), Japanese encephalitis (JE), tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), dengues serotypes 1 to 4 (DEN-1, -2, -3, -4) and Yellow fever (YF) virus have been tested with the method of the invention. Zoonotic WN, USU, and JE viruses belong to the JE serocomplex. The Drosophila S2 inducible expression system (DES, Invitrogen), has been chosen for the mass production of individual EDIII from flaviviruses in non-vertebrate cells. The synthetic genes coding for the full-length domain III of the E proteins from flaviviruses WN, USU, JE, TBE, DEN-1 to DEN-4 and YF are listed in SEQ ID NO: 23 to SEQ ID NO: 31. The ED III sequences were fused in frame to the C-terminus of the SNAP protein in the plasmid pMT/BiP/SNAP-Histag obtained in 1.2. to generate the fusions proteins SNAP-EDIII.

1.4.3. IFNα

A plasmid pMT/BiP/SNAP-IFN-Histag (see FIG. 4) and pMT/BiP-like/SNAP-IFN-Histag has been obtained (see details on FIG. 8).

1.4.4. Granzyme M

A plasmid pMT/BiP/SNAP-GrM-Histag has been obtained (see details on FIG. 6).

2. Transfection into Host Cells

2.1. Transfection into S2 cells

The resulting plasmids pMT/BiP/SNAP-PROTEIN-His_(tag) that allows the production of SNAP-tagged proteins as secreted fusion proteins ended by the His_(tag), were co-transfected with selection marker pCo-Blast into S2 cells to generate the stable S2/sSNAP-PROTEIN-His_(tag) cell line showing resistance to Ampicilline.

Stable S2 cell lines grown in spinner (1000 ml) were stimulated 10 days with heavy metal cadmium (Cd2+) and proteins from extracellular medium were concentrated and purified.

Accumulation of secreted SNAP-tagged protein was observed in the supernatants of stable S2/sSNAP-PROTEIN-Histag cells after 10 days of induction with heavy metal cadmium.

Immunoblot assays enable to detect extracellular SNAP-tagged proteins using goat serum anti-Histag (see FIGS. 2B, 3B, 4B, 6C).

2.2. Transfection into HeLa Cells

The plasmid pMT/BiPlike/SNAP-IFN-His_(tag) was transfected into HeLa cells.

Immunoblot assays enable to detect extracellular SNAP-tagged IFN using anti-SNAP antibodies (see FIG. 7B).

3. Purification of Recombinant Proteins

Extracellular His-tagged and SNAP-tagged proteins were purified using metal-chelating resin and HLPC method.

3.1. RVF-N and TOS-N

RVF-N

In collaboration with the Plate-Forme 5 Production de Protéines recombinantes et d'Anticorps (Institut Pasteur), as high as 97 mg of highly purified SNAP-tagged RVF.N protein have been obtained from 2 liters of S2/sSNAP-RVFV.N-His_(tag) cell supernatants 10 days after stimulation with Cd²⁺.

TOS-N

In collaboration with the Plate-Forme 5 Production de Protéines recombinantes et d'Anticorps (Institut Pasteur) as high as 41 mg of highly purified SNAP-tagged RVF.N protein have been obtained from 2 liters of S2/sSNAP-TOS.N-His_(tag) cell supematants 10 days after stimulation with Cd²⁺.

Summary of the Production Levels:

Viral antigens Plasmids Stable cell lines Purified proteins Concentration (/2 L) N gene from RVF pMT/BiP/SNAP+RVF.N S2/SNAP+RVF.N SNAP-RVF.N 97 mg N gene from TOS pMT/BiP/SNAP+TOS.N S2/SNAP+TOS.N SNAP-TOS.N 41 mg 3.2. Soluble IFNα1

The soluble IFNα1 proteins has been released from the SNAP tag by cleaving with the enterokinase enzyme (Novagen kit).

3.3. Antigens from Different Flaviviruses

Stocks of secreted SNAP-tagged proteins using Drosophila expression system

Production Concentration per liter of of purified Viral antigens Plasmids Purified proteins cell culture proteins EDIII from DEN-1 pMT/BiP/SNAP+DV1.EDIII sSNAP-DV1.EDIII 132 mg 4.93 mg/ml EDIII from DEN-2 pMT/BiP/SNAP+DV2.EDIII sSNAP-DV2.EDIII 59 mg 2.67 mg/ml EDIII from DEN-3 pMT/BiP/SNAP+DV3.EDIII sSNAP-DV3.EDIII 124 mg 3.54 mg/ml EDIII from DEN-4 pMT/BiP/SNAP+DV4.EDIII sSNAP-DV4.EDIII 43 mg 1.67 mg/ml EDIII from WN pMT/BiP/SNAP+WN.EDIII sSNAP-WN.EDIII 176 mg 4.2 mg/ml EDIII from JE pMT/BiP/SNAP+JE.EDIII sSNAP-JE.EDIII 223 mg 6.38 mg/ml EDIII from USU pMT/BiP/SNAP+USU.EDIII sSNAP-USU.EDIII 182 mg 4.8 mg/ml EDIII from TBE pMT/BiP/SNAP+TBE.EDIII sSNAP-TBE.EDIII 180 mg 5.13 mg/ml EDIII from YF pMT/BiP/SNAP+YF.EDIII sSNAP-YF.EDIII 120 mg 3.46 mg/ml EDIII from MVE pMT/BIP/SNAP+MVE.EDIII sSNAP-MVE.EDIII 87 mg EDIII from ROCIO pMT/BIP/SNAP+Rocio.EDIII sSNAP-Rocio.EDIII 79 mg EDIII from WSL pMT/BIP/SNAP+WSL.EDIII sSNAP-WSL.EDIII 63 mg 2 mg/ml EDIII from ZIKA pMT/BIP/SNAP+Zika.EDIII sSNAP-ZIKA.EDIII 152 mg 3.8 mg/ml SNAP-DV1ectoM pMT/BiP/SNAP−DV1ectoM SNAP-DV1ectoM 49 mg 1.4 mg/ml N gene from RVF pMT/BiP/SNAP+N.RVF sSNAP-N.RVF 97 mg 1.3 mg/ml N gene from TOS pMT/BiP/SNAP+N.TOS sSNAP-N.TOS 41 mg 1.65 mg/ml SNAP pMT/BiP/SNAP SNAP 13 mg 1 mg/ml sE from WN pMT/BiP/WN.sE+SNAP WN.sE+SNAP 40 mg 2.3 mg/ml sE2 from CHIK pMT/BiP/CHIK.sE2+SNAP CHIK.sE2-SNAPtag 90 mg 1.2 mg/ml SNAP-EKS-IFNA1 pMT/BiP/SNAP−EKS-IFNA1 SNAP-EKS-IFNA1 49 mg 3.5 mg/ml EDIII: domain antigenic III from flavivirus E proteins (Dengue [DEN], West Nile [WN], Japanese encephalitis [JE], Usutu [USU], Tick-borne encephalitis [TBE], Yellow Fever [YF], Murray Encephalitis [MVE], Wesselbron [WSL], Rocio, Zika) ectoM: ectodomain of the M protein from dengue virus type 1 N gene from RVF: the nucleoprotein N of the Rift Valley Fever Virus (major viral antigen) N gene from TOS: the nucleoprotein N of the Toscana Virus (major viral antigen) sE from WN: soluble form of the envelope E protein from West Nile virus sE2 from CHIK: soluble form of the envelope E2 protein from Chikungunya SNAP-IFNAI: interferon-alpha 1 in fusion with SNAP. 3.4. Production of Granzyme M

10 mg of SNAP-GrM protein per liter of culture supernatant have been recovered in 7 days.

After purification steps, three forms of SNAP-GrM have been detected (see FIG. 6C) which correspond to the cleavage of the SNAP protein by the coupled GrM enzyme.

This clearly means that the human protease is active after being produced by the method of the invention (see below).

4. Control of the SNAP-Tagged Proteins

Immunoblots assays using specific antibodies (recognizing the protein of interest and/or to the Histag label) detected a substantial production of extracellular SNAP-tagged proteins:

Immunoblot assay detected extracellular SNAP-tagged RVF.N protein using goat serum anti-His_(tag) (FIG. 2B). Human and mouse immune sera against RVF.N specifically recognize recombinant SNAP-tagged RVF.N protein.

Immunoblot assays showed no cross-reactivity between recombinant WN and USU EDIII using specific mouse polyclonal sera despite the high level of sequence similarity. Thus, the secreted soluble SNAP-EDIII from WNV, JE, USU are suitable as recombinant viral antigens for the specific diagnosis of members of JE serocomplex since USU and, in a lesser extent, JE viruses have recently been identified as potential emerging arboviruses in Europe.

5. Activity of SNAP-Tagged Recombinant Proteins

Soluble Recombinant SNAP-IFNαI Secreted from Induced S2/SNAP-IFNαI Cells Exhibits Potent Antiviral Effect Against CHIKV.

Supernatants (5 ml) of Cd²⁺-stimulated S2/SNAP-IFNαI (#5×10^6 cells/ml) were collected 10 days post-induction. Accumulation of soluble SNAP-IFNαI protein was observed on cell supernatant by immunoblot using anti-Histag antibody (see below). Antiviral activity of SNAP-IFNαI was assessed on HeLa cells infected with Chikungunya virus expressing the luciferase (Luc) gene. Luc activity was determined 6 h post-infection. IFN alphacon 1 (Infergen) was used as an internal assay knowing its potent antiviral effect against CHIKV in HeLa cells. Supernatant of Cd²⁺-stimulated S2/SNAP-Tos.N (the N protein from Toscana virus) served as a negative control. The graph depicted on FIG. 4C demonstrates that 1 μl of secreted SNAP-IFNαI or 0.1 μg of Infergen could suppress CHIKV replication inside the infected host cells. A dose-dependent effect of SNAP-IFNα is shown in the graph. Twenty percent of Luc activity was still observed with 0.1 μl of soluble SNAP-IFNαI or 0.01 μg of Infergen. No antiviral effect was observed using SNAP-TOS-N at the higher dose tested.

Granzyme M is Active Once it is Produced in the Supernatant of the S2 Cells

As mentioned previously, three forms of SNAP-GrM have been detected in the supernatant of S2 cells transfected with the vector pMT/BiP/SNAP-GrM-Histag (see FIG. 6C).

These three forms correspond to the cleavage of the SNAP protein by the coupled GrM enzyme. SNAP indeed contains three potential cleavage sites of GrM (see FIG. 6B). Immunoassays with either anti-His or anti-SNAP antibodies have revealed that these three forms are indeed fragments of the secreted fusion protein SNAP-GrM.

The smaller form (35 kDa) corresponds to GrM which has been deleted with the major part of SNAP during the purification process.

These results clearly show that the GrM protease which has been produced by the system of the invention is active, although it is coupled with the SNAP protein.

This is really interesting since active human proteases are known to be very difficult to produce recombinantly.

hSULF-2^(ΔTMD) is Active Once it is Produced in the Supernatant of HEK 293 Cells

hSULF-2^(ΔTMD) has been expressed and purified from HEK-293 cells transfected with a recombinant plasmid pcDNA3/De SNAPuniv-hSULF-2^(ΔTMD) (see FIG. 13A).

The enzymatic activity of the hSULF-2^(ΔTMD) polypeptide obtained in the supernatant has been assessed as follows:

HEK 293 cells were transiently transfected with pcDNA3/DeSNAP-hSULF2ΔTMDs. After two days, an aliquote of cell supernatant was incubated with the Non-fluorescent pseudo-substrate 4-Methyl Umbelliferone (4-MUS) at 20 mM in 50 mM Tris pH7.5, 20 mM MgCl2 was incubated (1:1, V/V) with the enzyme (in conditioned medium) for 2-4 hours at 37° C. in a 96-well plate. The enzymatic reaction was stopped by addition (1:1 v/v) of 1.5 M NaHCO3/Na2CO3 pH 10.5 and generation of 4-Methyl Umbelliferone fluorescent product was monitored by fluorimetry (excitation: 360 nm). The values of the SULF activity in cell supernatant are measured in optical density (OD) at 460 nm.

Interestingly, the secreted protein (coupled with SNAP?) is active as shown on FIG. 13B.

6. Stability of SNAP-Tagged Recombinant Proteins

It has been surprisingly observed that the fusion proteins comprising the SNAP peptide are far more stable in vitro than in its absence.

Highly purified CHIK.sE2-SNAP, SNAP-WN.EDIII and SNAP-IFNAI proteins at the non-saturating concentrations of 0.1 mg/ml (Vol: 0.1 ml) in sterile PBS were incubated either 4 days at −80° C., 4° C., 25° C. or 37° C., or two months at the same temperature.

Protein samples (1 μg) were separated in SDS-PAGE 4-12% and visualized with Coomassie Brillant Blue G-250 dye using PageBlue Protein Staining solution (Fermentas).

FIGS. 10 A and B discloses theresults obtained by comparing the stability of three different fusion proteins in vitro.

Importantly, all the fusion proteins appeared to be intact after two months at 4° C., and also after four days incubation at room temperature (25° C.) or at 37° C.

In particular, IFN is not affected after 4 days at body temperature (37° C.), and is still observed after two months at 37° C., so that in vivo stability is likely to be highly increased through its coupling to SNAP.

7. In Vitro Detection of SNAP-RVF.N Produced by S2 Cells

SNAP-RVF.N fusion proteins which have been produced according to the above-mentioned protocols were used as diagnostic tool for detecting anti-RVF.N antibodies in the sera of infected ovines.

These fusion proteins have been tested and compared with commercial kits of detection (RVF IgG detection kit from BDSL and RVF multi-species from IdVet).

The tests have been conducted on 46 sheeps sera, the sheeps being immunised by RVF vaccines. SNAP-RVF.N fusion proteins were directly coated on the bottom of the wells, or were biotinylated and added to streptavidin coated wells.

Anti-RVF antibodies were detected by indirect ELISA method using microtitration 96-well plaques directly coated with 0.2 μg of highly purified recombinant antigen SNAP-RVF.N in PBS (concentration: 2 μs protein/ml) for overnight at 4° C. After saturation, diluted sera were incubated with SNAP-RVF.N. Peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-IgG was used as secondary antibody. ELISA was performed with peroxidase substrate system and optical density (OD) was measured at 450 nm. Sample sera were considered to be positive if the OD were twice the OD from non immune sera.

Interestingly, the results show that the SNAP-RVF.N fusion proteins give the same sensitivity and specificity than the commercial proteins when directly coated onto the wells (not shown). The results are less reproducible when the proteins are biotinylated,

The same results have been obtained on sera obtained from naturally immunised bovines (data not shown).

These results show that the fusion proteins of the invention can be used as diagnostic tools for identifying viral infection or bacterial infections in biological samples.

8. Multiplex Bead-Based Immunoassay

In the context of the invention, a multiplex bead-based immunoassay was developed for rapid and simultaneous detection of antibodies to arboviruses in biological fluids. The system is based on the xMAP technology (Luminex corporation) and uses a mixture of antigen-coated microspheres as capture reagents for specific human immunoglobulins. Distinct sets of microspheres (Magplex, Luminex corporation) were coupled with purified MGMT fusion proteins, namely the SNAP-tagged viral recombinant proteins described in section 3.3: sSNAP-DV1.EDIII, sSNAP-DV2.EDIII, sSNAP-DV3.EDIII, sSNAP-DV4.EDIII, sSNAP-WN.EDIII, sSNAP-JE.EDIII, sSNAP-USU.EDIII, sSNAP-TBE.EDIII, sSNAP-YF.EDIII, sSNAP-MVE.EDIII, sSNAP-Rocio.EDIII, sSNAP-WSL.EDIII, sSNAP-ZIKA.EDIII SNAP-DV1ectoM, sSNAP-N.RVF, sSNAP-N.TOS, and CHIK.sE2-SNAP.

Recombinant antigens were covalently coupled to the carboxyl microsphere surface using a substrate of the MGMT protein as linker (BG-PEG-NH2, New England Biolabs), thereby enhancing antibody capture efficiency as compared to standard amine coupling procedures.

Technical validation using anti-SNAP-tag antibodies and specific mouse monoclonal antibodies confirmed coupling efficiency and demonstrated long-term antigen stability (up to six month). This application is not limited to viral antigens as any peptide or polypeptide can be used for bead coating and subsequent antibody capture.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

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The invention claimed is:
 1. A vector for expressing recombinant proteins in host cells, comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding in a single open reading frame, from 5′ to 3′: a) a peptidic secretion signal which is functional in said host cells, b) a 6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase enzyme (MGMT) or a mutant thereof, wherein said MGMT enzyme or MGMT mutant is the protein of SEQ ID NO:4, or a homologous sequence thereof that is at least 75% identical to SEQ ID NO:4, and c) a recombinant protein.
 2. The expression vector according to claim 1, wherein said MGMT enzyme or MGMT mutant is the protein of SEQ ID NO:4, or a homologous sequence thereof that is at least 80% identical to SEQ ID NO:4.
 3. The expression vector according to claim 1, wherein said open reading frame is operatively associated with an inducible promoter which is functional in the same host cell as the peptidic signal.
 4. The expression vector according to claim 3, wherein said secretion peptidic signal and said inducible promoter are functional in non-vertebrate cells.
 5. The expression vector according to claim 3, wherein said secretion peptidic signal and said inducible promoter are functional in vertebrate cells.
 6. The expression vector according to claim 1, wherein the recombinant protein is selected from the group consisting of: bacterial or viral immunogenic proteins selected from the EDIII protein from Dengue, Japanese encephalitis (JE), Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), Yellow fever (YF), Usutu (USU), Rocio, Murray Encephalitis (MVE), Wesselbron (WSL), Zika and West Nile (WN) viruses, the nucleoprotein N from Rift Valley Fever (RVF) and Toscana (TOS) viruses, the soluble form of the E2 envelope protein from the Chikungunya virus, and the soluble form of the E envelope protein of the West-Nile virus blood factors, anticoagulants, growth factors, hormones, therapeutic enzymes and monoclonal antibodies and cytokines, anti-tumoral proteins, microbial, viral and/or parasite polypeptides, and antigens.
 7. The expression vector according to claim 1, wherein said recombinant protein is selected from the group consisting of Interferon α (IFNα), Granzyme M, FasL, SSX2, NERCMSL, hSULF2^(ΔTMD) and CNTN4.
 8. The expression vector according to claim 1, wherein said MGMT enzyme is encoded by the DNA sequence of SEQ ID NO:3, or SEQ ID NO:68.
 9. The expression vector according to claim 1, further encoding at least one peptidic cleavage site, which is preferably located between the MGMT enzyme, or a mutant or catalytic domain thereof, and the recombinant protein.
 10. The vector according to claim 1, encoding in frame from 5′ to 3′: a peptidic BiP insect signal or a BiP-like peptide signal, a MGMT protein of SEQ ID NO: 4, at least one enterokinase cleavage site or proTEV peptidic cleavage site, a poly-Histidine label, and, two spacer sequences having the amino acid sequence Glycine-Glycine-Glycine-Serine (GGGS).
 11. A fusion polypeptide encoded by the vector of claim
 1. 12. The fusion polypeptide according to claim 11, further comprising a label located at the C terminal end of the recombinant protein.
 13. An isolated non-vertebrate recombinant cell which is stably transfected by the expression vector of claim
 1. 14. The stably transfected cell according to claim 13, wherein it is an insect cell.
 15. The stably transfected cell according to claim 13, wherein it is a Drosophila melanogaster cell.
 16. An isolated vertebrate recombinant cell which is stably transfected by the expression vector of claim
 1. 17. The stably transfected cell according to claim 16, wherein it is a mammalian cell.
 18. A method of enhancing expression of recombinant protein(s) comprising expressing the vector of claim 1 in non-vertebrate cells.
 19. The method according to claim 18, wherein said MGMT enzyme or MGMT mutant enzyme is the protein of SEQ ID NO:4, or a homologous sequence thereof that is at least 80% identical to SEQ ID NO:4.
 20. A method to produce recombinant protein in cell culture, comprising the steps of: a) providing the expression vector of claim 1, b) introducing said expression vector into host cells, c) allowing for the expression of the nucleotide introduced in said host cells to produce the recombinant protein.
 21. The expression vector according to claim 4, wherein said secretion peptidic signal is a BiP insect signal or a BiP-like peptide.
 22. The expression vector according to claim 10, further encoding a recombinant protein comprised between the MGMT protein and the cleavage site, said protein being preferably selected from the group consisting of Interferon α (IFNα), Granzyme M, FasL, SSX2, NERCMSL, hSULF2^(ΔTMD) and CNTN4. 